Archive for November, 2009

I think I had a good time

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

I’ve been getting a little more serious about county birding here in Washington recently.  For those of you not familiar with it, county birding is trying to build up a list for a particular county or all the counties in a state.  Some birders only care about their life list or their ABA (American Birding Association) list.  For others, it’s a state or county list, and for some, it’s all of the above and more.  I could go into the pros and cons of county listing, but that’s getting off-topic for this post.  Maybe I’ll get into it later.  Remind me.

Anyway, last weekend, I decided to visit a few counties that I’ve only driven through (Thurston) or haven’t even been in (Mason).  In Thurston County, I stopped at Nisqually NWR and a few places around Olympia including Capitol Lake and turned up 65 species, and I found 44 species with several stops in Mason County.  Between the two counties, I saw 76 species and gained 109 county ticks.  I thought I did pretty well considering the weather and time of year.  Well, I thought I did well until I got home.

I should probably mention that during the middle of the day I called home to get a report on what was being reported on Tweeters (the WA state birding listserv).  I have a fear that a mega-rarity, or even a not-so-mega-rarity, is going to be found while I’m out and I won’t know about it until it’s too late to go look for it.  I especially fear that I’m going to drive right past a spot where something’s been found, completely unaware.   The birding world seems to be full of stories like that.

When I got home, I went online and found out that a couple of other birders found a King Eider at a state park in Mason County that I thought about visiting.  D’oh!  At least I didn’t drive right past the park, but I was fairly close.  Then a day later, someone else reported two Magnolia Warblers in Thurston County.  I had been pretty close to them, too.  Oh, well.

Actually, I did have a good time, despite missing those birds.  I’m not completely insane that into county or state listing. But the coincidence was, um, interesting.

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Black-tailed Gull gone

Friday, November 13th, 2009

Just a quick update: Monday was the last day that the Black-tailed Gull was reported.  Searches on Wednesday and Thursday failed to turn it up.

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Black-tailed Gull in Tacoma

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Charlie Wright found a Black-tailed Gull on Commencement Bay, a part of Puget Sound, in Tacoma, WA on October 13.  Not surprisingly, I was thousands of miles away in Quebec when it was found.  Last year, a Variegated Flycatcher was in eastern Washington in September.  Me?  I was in Barrow, Alaska at the time.  Unlike the flycatcher, the gull had the good manners to stick around until I got back home, and as of today (Nov 4), it’s still there.

Black-tailed Gull

Black-tailed Gull; Tacoma, WA, 27 Oct 2009

I’ve seen it three times now, and on my second visit, I was able to get some pretty good photos.  Besides the one above, you can see the rest here.  If you go, don’t expect to see it this well unless you’re in a boat.  Otherwise, you’ll be at least 100 yards away, and you’ll definitely want a scope.  In fact, you’ll probably need a scope.

I had several requests for directions after I first posted my photos to Tweeters, and I know birders are still coming to look for it, so here are directions from I-5:

- take Exit 137 (the Fife/Milton/Hwy 99 exit) and go north (a right turn if you’re coming from southbound I-5; I believe it’s also a right turn if you’re coming from northbound I-5).  You will be on 54th Ave E.

- continue north for 1.0 mile on 54th Ave E.  This distance is measured from where the southbound I-5 exit meets 54th Ave E.  There’s a traffic light there.  After you pass this traffic light, you’ll go through another three intersections with traffic lights and then come to a fourth light at the intersection with Hwy 509.  (FYI, shortly before 54th Ave E. meets Hwy 509, it makes a slight bend to the left, and when it does, it’s name changes to Taylor Way.)

- turn right on Hwy 509.  It is also called Marine View Drive.

- go 3.9 miles on Marine View Drive/Hwy 509.  Note that at 1.7 miles you’ll need to get into the left lane.  The right lane is right turn only.  Along the way, you’ll pass Hylebos, Chinook Landing, and Ole & Charlie’s marinas.

- there is a pull-off on your left at 3.9 miles (marked on a map here).  You might notice a street sign here that says “NE 5000″.  Park here.  If you end up driving past this spot, you will reach Tyee Marina at 4.2 miles.  You can turn around here.  Also, you’ll pass several other pull-offs before you get to the “NE 5000″ pull-off.  You might want to try these, too, if you aren’t having any luck.

Here’s a photo of the bay from the pull-off:

CommencementBayP_2009_11_05_550

The gull is usually sitting on the log boom, often on the right side, which as you see, is marked in the photo.  Today, it was sitting right in the middle of the near side.  I took this photo around 2 PM.  As you can see, the light isn’t terrific and it just gets worse as the day goes on.  I’ve heard that the gull is usually off feeding in the morning, so late morning to early afternoon is probably the best time to look for it from the road.

Other birds seen here today included Barrow’s Goldeneye, Red-necked Grebe, and three species of comorants.

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Welcome to the Z Birds Birding Blog

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Howdy and thanks for checking out the new Zugunruhe Birding Tours weblog (or as I call it, a “blog”).  It appears as if this internet thing is actually going to be around for awhile, so I’m reluctantly joining the crowd of bloggers.  Hey, I’m only a few years late to the party.

I’ll be updating this blog with news on upcoming tours, trip reports, other forms of self-promotion (both blatant and not-so-blatant), birding tips and information, and anything else that I think might be of interest to birders.  I hope you find it useful and entertaining, or at least as useful and entertaining as a blog can be.

Besides being the founder, head honcho, office staff, and lead guide of Z Bird Tours*, I’m also the webmaster, and I have no training with that.  I’m learning as I go, so I’ll be working on improving the appearance of this blog as my skills improve.  Once I learn a little more about CSS, it should be looking sweet, but in the meantime, bear with me.

Thanks,

John

*I was looking for a memorable name when I started this company, something a little different.  “Zugunruhe” is definitely different.  Maybe a little too different.  It’s a German word used by ornithologists which means “migratory restlessness”.  Difficult to say, yes.  That’s why I refer to the company as “Z Bird” or just “Z”, but whether it’s “Z Bird”, “Z”, or “Zugunruhe”, I hope it sticks in your mind…in a good way.

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