Birding in Neighborhoods - South
At the end of January, we bundled up and rolled ourselves out into the sun on the dikes at Deer Lagoon, where we identified at least 39 species — a little of everything, including those beautiful and entertaining Hooded Mergansers at the edge in the slough foraging for tiny fishies, then gobbling them down with their adorable little serrated bills! A Killdeer and some Greater Yellowlegs were taking advantage of what little shore there was, along with the Crows and Mallards. Of course, the eagles and harriers were scaring up the ducks and Dunlin. While we were looking for the Snipe that Carlos had spied, a Lincoln’s Sparrow was a nice surprise.
You know where it was cold? Deception Pass Saturday morning. But gathering to watch Red-throated Loons flying in from offshore is about my favorite WAS event all year. Sarah and Steve (and Dyanne) had the crowd enthralled with their explanations of what brings this scene together, and the habits of the loons and more. Thank you for continuing this wonderful tradition.
Early in February, a handful of us braved the road conditions and the chill at Deer Lagoon, to enjoy the company of the birds and one another. Along the dike path we watched a diverse gang of sparrows kicking around on the trail ahead of us White-crowned, Golden-crowned, Fox, Song, juncos and towhees. Admittedly though, the most entertaining were otters rolling around on the slough bank, and we were having such a good time that we wound up nearly to the beach, which accounts for sightings of Surf Scoters, Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Loon and Brant.
On the return walk, the snow had melted off the driftwood, the tide had gone out some, and there was an impressive group of a dozen Yellow-rumped Warblers foraging near the shoreline and up in the driftwood!
Including the Red-tailed Hawk perched near the road on our way back, we identified over 50 species that morning.
Most recently on a lucky day at Sunlight beach, we observed at least 40 species — among those, nearly every duck you might imagine (16 species!), including two Eurasian Wigeons (or some hybrid between them and American Wigeons). Every now and then, Bald Eagles scared everyone up just because they could, but possibly that Springlike day they were more interested in one another than in the ducks. Watching a Northern Harrier surfing the bluff draft, we noted just how much bigger the eagles were next to her!