A report of a Burrowing Owl in Renton, WA came out on Tweeters late yesterday.  This is only the fourth record for King County.  I missed the third record a few years ago, plus I hadn’t seen one anywhere in Washington yet, so I headed on down to Renton this morning because it may be awhile before I get another chance to see one this close to Seattle.

Burrowing Owl at the Renton, WA post office; 19 Mar 2010

I’ve probably seen a few hundred Burrowing Owls, so how was this a lifer?  I’ve never seen one in a tree before.  One reason I missed the last one in King County was that it was in a tree too (at least while I was looking for it), and I never even thought about looking up.  It probably also didn’t help that it was on the opposite side of the field from where I was looking.  I’ve seen them perched on traffic signs, hay bales, irrigation pipes, and other posts, but never in a tree — until now.

Well, there haven’t been any additional Northern Lapwings in Newfoundland reported to nf.birds and the weather conditions have changed, but the Zugunruhe tour group did see one of the previously-reported birds this morning.  It took them a whole half-hour to find it.  Jared spotted it sleeping in a field.  Good work, gentlemen!

That makes a 100% success rate for lapwings on our “official” tours: we’re two-for-two.  I say “official” because I’m not counting my scouting trip.  That one was lapwingless, and I have to say I will be really surprised if we get another lapwing on a future tour.

Over the past several days, three Northern Lapwings have been reported in eastern Newfoundland.  As you would expect, the local birders are excited, but they’re not just excited about those three lapwings.  They’re excited that there could be more to come.

There have been several significant invasions of Northern Lapwings to the maritime provinces of Canada.  The largest was in December 1927 when hundreds, possibly thousands, were found, primarily in Newfoundland.  A smaller invasion occurred in January 1966.  Both invasions occurred when there was bad weather in western Europe and easterly winds over the North Atlantic.

Northern Lapwing seen on our Dec 2008 tour

The reason for the excitement is that the same conditions are occurring right now, plus Ireland has seen huge numbers of thrushes (Redwing, Fieldfare, Song Thrush) arriving, presumably from points east and perhaps continuing west, so Newfoundland’s birders are looking for more than just lapwings.  Jack Snipe is also on their minds.

I’m excited because our 2010 Newfoundland tour starts today (OK, the birding won’t actually begin until Saturday), so I’m hoping the participants will see a lapwing and possibly another European species or two.  St. John’s birder Jared Clark will be leading the tour, so I’ll be missing out on the fun this time around, but remarkably, we had a lapwing on the previous Newfoundland tour (photo above).  It was a great “bonus bird” for the trip list.

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.

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; 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:

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.