Loons at Deception Pass

For the annual Loon Field Trip on January 25, it was near freezing, but we had little wind and some glimpses of sun. The state park Americorps staff kept count and recorded 105 people coming and going over the three hours we were there! Fortunately, as well as official trip leaders, Steve Ellis and myself, there were numerous knowledgeable birders to point out birds and answer questions. We saw all three loon species—Red-throated (several dozen), Common (a handful), and Pacific (one). We learned that they molt from bright breeding colors into plain gray and white in winter. The Red-throated shows the most white, making them conspicuous, particularly in flight.

Some of us stayed from 9 a.m. to noon, others came and went.

Looking north and west from the north end of West Beach, as well as from the western shore of Cranberry Lake, we counted 24 species. The loons all landed toward the far shore, so the many spotting scopes being shared were helpful. Species for study closer to us included Surf Scoter, Common Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser, Red-necked Grebe, Horned Grebe, and Pigeon Guillemot, and we saw a distant Rhinoceros Auklet. On the offshore rock by the parking area there were a few Black Oystercatchers, along with Glaucous-winged and Short-billed Gulls. Feeding among the loons were Double-crested and Pelagic Cormorants.

Cranberry Lake afforded views of Belted Kingfisher, Bufflehead, Pied-billed Grebe, Common Merganser, and Bald Eagles. We also saw Harlequin Duck, Killdeer, American Crow, and heard Red Crossbills.

Looking far west with spotting scopes, we could see many hundreds of white dots riding the waters of Rosario Strait; these were waiting Red-throated Loons. While we did witness an in-flight of Red-throated Loons, they came in tens and twenties instead of the hundreds we sometimes witness. Those loons that did gather did little diving, which suggests they weren’t feeding. Why?

The gathering of loons occurs most winter days from December to March. The early ebb tide corresponds with a mass inflight of Red-throated Loons and other fish-eating species, likely due to a concentration of prey fish, primarily surf smelt. The feasting follows the reversal from flood to ebb as building currents race out through Deception Pass.

Whidbey Audubon has been offering this annual field trip since 2009, and we schedule it for this turn of the tide. The number of Red-throated Loons that fly in is quite variable. Likely there is variation in the smelt run day to day—a probable explanation for days when the birds fly in but we don’t see them diving and they soon depart. That’s the behavior we saw on January 25. For comparison, on both January 22 and February 8, when I was there at the same ebb tide, I saw much higher number of RTLOs fly in—estimated at 900 on a mass out-flight when a boat came out under the bridge on January 22.  

Photo by Michael Shroyer

This photo taken in 2022 shows Red-throated Loons diving for prey.