Greater Seattle, Washington area, 8/13-22/15

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Skagit County; 8/19/15

Bob and I headed north on I-5 to Skagit County. Our first stop was at the Skagit State Wildlife Recreation Area. This turned out to be a very good birding site. There were several large wetland ponds and dike trails.


Skagit State WRA

We saw lots of Barn Swallows, Starlings, and Red-winged Blackbirds on the wires once we exited from I-5. One of the swallows looked like it might have been a Bank Swallow.


Swallows

The first birds we saw in the wildlife area were a large flock of sandpipers: Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, and a few Short-billed Dowitchers, and a pair of Belted Kingfishers were flying back and forth across the pond next to the boat launch parking lot.


Sandpipers


Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs


Sandpipers


Greater Yellowlegs


Greater Yellowlegs


Greater Yellowlegs


Belted Kingfisher

We saw a large nest that probably belonged to a Bald Eagle, and a Northern Harrier made multiple passes over the area. As we walked along the dike trails, we saw lots of Black-capped Chickadees, American Robins, and a few other species. Mallards and Wood Ducks were in the ponds, and we saw an American Coot (variant with white frontal shield). We stopped when I briefly saw a very yellow-orange breasted and headed warbler, but it dropped into dense vegetation. It was probably a Yellow Warbler, and we waited for about five minutes, but it did not reappear. There was a Common Yellowthroat in the same bush.


Great Blue Heron


Northern Harrier


Northern Harrier


American Coot


Common Yellowthroat


Common Yellowthroat


Black-capped Chickadee

I first thought that I got my second Song Sparrow on this Seattle area trip, but when I saw the brown chevrons on its breast, I thought had to be a Fox Sparrow (Sooty sub-species). However, it really was a Song Sparrow - they are much darker in the Pacific NW than here in Virginia.


Song Sparrow


Song Sparrow


Song Sparrow


Song Sparrow

When we got to the end of the dike trail, I saw a yellow flycatcher that might have been a Pacific-slope FC, but I ws looking into the sun again, and the photos are not definitive.


Flycatcher


Flycatcher


Flycatcher


Flycatcher

On out return hike, we saw many of the same birds plus a Bewick's Wren, a Northern Flicker, and some sandpipers that I could not identify. We also stopped to take some photos of Mt. Baker.


Bewick's Wren


Bewick's Wren


Northern Flicker


Unidentified Sandpipers


Mt. Baker

As we approached the beginnig of the dike trail near the boat launch parking lot, I saw a few more interesting birds. One of them was almost certainly a Willow Flycatcher.


Willow Flycatcher


Willow Flycatcher


Willow Flycatcher


Willow Flycatcher

But the other flycatcher there was more yellow, had bolder eye-rings, and each eye-ring came to a point at the rear - a Pacific-slope Flycatcher and another life bird for me.


Pacific-slope Flycatcher


Pacific-slope Flycatcher


Pacific-slope Flycatcher


Pacific-slope Flycatcher


Pacific-slope Flycatcher


Pacific-slope Flycatcher

And I saw a bird high up in a conifer that looked like a female Western Tanager.


Western Tanager

I had planned multiple stops north from there, so we went looking for more birds. We searched fields for birds as we drove, skipped most of Samish Flats, and stopped at several places along Padilla Bay.


Padilla Bay

We were disappointed as we only saw a few birds at these stops - probably the wrong time of day (low tide) and wrong time of year.


Killdeer


Western Sandpiper


Savannah Sparrow


Ring-billed Gull


Bald Eagle

I had a hard time identifying one of the birds we saw there - it was an immature Brown-headed Cowbird.


Brown-headed Cowbird


Brown-headed Cowbird

Samish Island was also disappointing. We saw a Great Blue Heron and a few distant gulls.


Great Blue Heron

We had a little afternoon light left for the day, so we headed to Butler Flat where I had read that we might see a Lazuli Bunting (potential life bird). I stopped at the location noted in the ABA guide, got out of the car, and heard the chirping of a Bunting - similar to our Virginia Indigo Buntings, but a little different. I played a recording of a Lazuli Bunting chirp, and a young female Lazuli Bunting immediately appeared. I played it again, and this time, another Lazuli Bunting (young male?) appeared. I had hoped to see an adult male of this species, but a life bird is a life bird!


Young female Lazuli Bunting


Young female Lazuli Bunting


Young male(?) Lazuli Bunting


Young male(?) Lazuli Bunting

And then another Willow Flycatcher came to say hello.


Willow Flycatcher

Click here to continue on the trip to Marymoor Park; 8/20/15

Click here to jump to the trip to Skagit; 8/21/15
Click here to jump to the trip to Tolt River Park; 8/22/15

Click here for the complete avian trip list


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