7.2-7.6 Central
and Eastern WA State
COMMON LOON calling; quite spectacular
at Lost Lake (Jul 04)
RED-NECKED GREBE CO-PY at Spectacle Lake (Jul 03)
SORA in plain view with 2 precocial young at 1st pond west of
Toroda Road (Jul 04)
BLACK TERN several flying; likely nesting at Beaver Lake (Jul
04)
AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER one upslope from the parking lot
near the weather station at WA Pass (Jul 02), two CO-ON two separate
nests, each with at least one unfledged young at 1st burn after
Tiffany Springs (Jul 03)
ALDER FLYCATCHER unmistakeable; stopped me in my tracks. Visuals
not sufficient to eliminate Willow Flycatcher at Marblemount
(Jul 02)
LEAST FLYCATCHER 2-3 at Marshes W. Of Curlew (Jul 04)
PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER definitely not giving the Cordilleran
call at Conconully (Jul 03)
EASTERN KINGBIRD two quite approachable individuals on wires
at the side of the road at Conconully (Jul 03)
RED-EYED VIREO one singing at Marblemount (Jul 02), another singing
at SR-21 (Jul 05)
STELLER'S JAY suprisingly hard to find at Conconully (Jul 03)
MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE incredibly heard but not seen during the entire
trip at Baldy Pass (Jul 03)
VEERY one singing at Aneas Valley Rd. (Jul 04), another singing
at the same location as Swainson's Thrush at FR-53 (Jul 05),
everywhere; several decent looks on SR-21 (Jul 05)
GRAY CATBIRD one singing across the road at Conconully (Jul 03),
another singing at Aneas Valley Rd. (Jul 04), easy to find at
Marshes W. Of Curlew (Jul 04) and along SR-21 (Jul 05)
AMERICAN REDSTART high in trees; presumably on territory at Whatcom
County Line (Jul 02)
NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH singing; louder and slightly different from
MacGillivray's Warbler at SR-21 (Jul 05)
BOBOLINK a spectacular alternate plumage male flying away at
Coats-Toulee Road (Jul 03), another male at Aneas Valley Rd.
(Jul 04)
Canada Goose (17, 23, 27)
Wood Duck (31)
Ring-necked Duck (21)
Barrow's Goldeneye (8, 27, 32)
Hooded Merganser (27, 28)
Common Merganser (33)
Ruddy Duck (8)
California Quail (8)
Common Loon (23)
Red-necked Grebe (8, 17)
Double-crested Cormorant (34)
Great Blue Heron (23)
Turkey Vulture (6)
Osprey (17, 33)
Bald Eagle (23)
Red-tailed Hawk (6)
American Kestrel (1, 30)
Sora (28)
American Coot (8)
Spotted Sandpiper (27)
Wilson's Snipe (23)
Ring-billed Gull (18)
Black Tern (23, 27)
Common Nighthawk (30)
Black-chinned Hummingbird (16)
Calliope Hummingbird (33)
Rufous Hummingbird (8, 16)
Belted Kingfisher (8)
Lewis's Woodpecker (15)
Red-naped Sapsucker (5)
Downy Woodpecker (8)
Hairy Woodpecker (13)
American Three-toed Woodpecker (5, 14)
Northern Flicker (6, 8, 9)
Olive-sided Flycatcher (12)
Western Wood-Pewee (8, 9, 21, 24, 29)
Alder Flycatcher (2)
Willow Flycatcher (2, 20, 21, 33)
Least Flycatcher (30)
Hammond's Flycatcher (9, 32, 33)
Dusky Flycatcher (27)
Pacific-slope Flycatcher (8, 23, 32, 33)
Say's Phoebe (7)
Western Kingbird (7, 8)
Eastern Kingbird (8, 28)
Cassin's Vireo (9, 21)
Warbling Vireo (7, 32)
Red-eyed Vireo (2, 33)
Gray Jay (5)
Steller's Jay (8)
Clark's Nutcracker (10)
Black-billed Magpie (19)
American Crow (2)
Common Raven (7)
Tree Swallow (2)
Violet-green Swallow (8)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (15)
Bank Swallow (15)
Cliff Swallow (2, 15)
Barn Swallow (2)
Black-capped Chickadee (20, 33)
Mountain Chickadee (10, 32)
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (22)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (4, 33)
House Wren (8, 29)
Winter Wren (26, 32)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (32)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (9)
Western Bluebird (8)
Mountain Bluebird (15)
Townsend's Solitaire (8, 33)
Veery (20, 32, 33)
Swainson's Thrush (2, 32)
Hermit Thrush (5)
Varied Thrush (11)
Gray Catbird (8, 20, 30)
Cedar Waxwing (2, 32)
Orange-crowned Warbler (32)
Nashville Warbler (24)
Yellow Warbler (2, 8, 20, 32, 33)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (9, 32, 33)
Townsend's Warbler (11)
American Redstart (3, 32)
Northern Waterthrush (33)
MacGillivray's Warbler (32, 33)
Common Yellowthroat (2, 21, 33)
Wilson's Warbler (2)
Western Tanager (8, 15, 32, 33)
Spotted Towhee (33)
Chipping Sparrow (9)
Vesper Sparrow (15, 24)
Savannah Sparrow (20)
Fox Sparrow (11)
Song Sparrow (33)
Dark-eyed Junco (5)
Lazuli Bunting (8, 29, 33)
Bobolink (15, 20)
Red-winged Blackbird (8)
Western Meadowlark (8)
Brown-headed Cowbird (8)
Bullock's Oriole (6, 8)
Cassin's Finch (4)
Red Crossbill (23, 25, 32)
Pine Siskin (4, 9)
American Goldfinch (8, 20)
Locations:
1) I5 (Jul 02)
2) Marblemount (Jul 02)
3) Whatcom County Line (Jul 02)
4) Bridge Creek (Jul 02)
5) WA Pass (Jul 02)
6) Twisp (Jul 02)
7) Loup Loup area (Jul 02)
8) Conconully (Jul 03)
9) FR-37 (Jul 03)
10) Baldy Pass (Jul 03)
11) FR-37 (Jul 03)
12) Roger Lake (Jul 03)
13) Tiffany Springs (Jul 03)
14) 1st burn after Tiffany Springs (Jul 03)
15) Coats-Toulee Road (Jul 03)
16) Loomis (Jul 03)
17) Spectacle Lake (Jul 03)
18) Omak (Jul 03)
19) Hwy 20 (Jul 04)
20) Aneas Valley Rd. (Jul 04)
21) Bonaparte Lake Road (Jul 04)
22) Biq Tree Trailhead (Jul 04)
23) Lost Lake (Jul 04)
24) FR-33 (Jul 04)
25) Havallah Sno-Park (Jul 04)
26) FR-34 (Jul 04)
27) Beaver Lake (Jul 04)
28) 1st pond west of Toroda Road (Jul 04)
29) Ferry County Line (Jul 04)
30) Marshes W. Of Curlew (Jul 04)
31) Republic Sewer Ponds (Jul 05)
32) FR-53 (Jul 05)
33) SR-21 (Jul 05)
34) Banks Lake (Jul 05)
7.17/18 Common
Eider Somateria mollisima, Crescent City, DN
Dan Singer and I arrived at the end
of Keller St. in Crescent City around 7:00 PM on the 17th. After
searching for about 15 minutes, I refound the COMMON EIDER dipping
in and out of kelp and mollusk-covered small rocks about 1/4
mile south of Keller Avenue. After getting tickable looks, we
moved over to the area directly in front of the bird and got
good looks of the bird in fair to fading light at fairly close
range. The following morning, the bird was on its usual rock
at the end of Keller Avenue. After getting good looks at some
distaince, the bird swam the area we had seen it the previous
night, providing looks in good to excellent light. The following
description is based on voice
notes
taken in the field and additional notes from memory.
Common Eider, ©2004 Mark W. Eaton
Description:
An obvious sea duck with a striking black and white pattern. The bill was bright orange with the tip of the maxilla tending to more yellowish orange. The maxilla showed no curvature whatsover and met the forehead very high on the bird. The cheek of the bird was white, with a fine black border around extending well down the maxilla. The nasal grove appeared to be distally just beyond the feathering on the maxilla. The crown of the bird was jet black with a clean border outlining the cheek just below the eye. The feathering on the pate extending in fine line slightly down the maxilla. The pate extended down the nape, abruptly terminating in the middle of the neck. There was a very fine white median crown stripe barely visible on the crown. Rear of the cheeks was a dingy green wash extending to the back.The back of the bird black, outlined by two broad white stripes from the pattern of the folded upperwing. The breast was mottled brown, suggesting molt. The belly and flanks were jet black with a clean border between the belly and the breast. The uppertail, undertail, vent and uppertail coverts were all black. There was a conspicuous white flank patch, which appeared to continue the white from the folded upperwing down to the waterline. When the bird preened, one could see that the white upperwing pattern on the folder wing was due to very long pointed white scapulars, white wing coverts and white tertials forming a continuous white band. The underwing coverts were similarly colored while the underwing remiges were gray with paler shafts. All flight feathers appeared to be intact, showing no evidence of wing molt. The legs were fairly bright orange with contrasting dark webbing between the toes.
The bird was not heard to vocalize. The bird seemed to be in good health and swam easily at the speed of a fast walk along the shoreline. The bird was seen drinking seawater and seemed to be attempting to feed on mollusks (barnacles?) on offshore rocks. The bird did not associate with any other seabirds. I did not observe the bird fly, though others indicated that it had taken flight; nothing in the extended wing would suggest to the contrary.
Analysis:
The head shape pretty much eliminates all sea ducks other than eiders. The predominantly black and white plumage indicates that the bird is a male bird. Adult male Steller's Eider has an entirely white head with a black eye, peachy underparts. All plumages of Spectacled Eider show a large prominent circle around the eye. Adult male King Eider has a a prominent bulbous knob at the base of the maxilla, lacks white on the secondary coverts. Immature maile has an all dark head and back, much smaller bill.So we're left with a COMMON EIDER. Immature male Common Eider has an all dark head, so we're effectively left with an adult male Common Eider. Madge and Burn identify 6 different subspecies of Common Eider. Nominate mollissima and faeroeensis both have olive-gray bills. Borealis, dresseri and sedentaria all can show orange bills, so care must be taken. However, v-nigra (v-nigrum in Madge in Burn) show has yellowish legs, but most importantly, a black vee on the throat and chin such as observed in the field. Thus, it suggest that we have an adult male Common Eider, ssp. v-nigra.
The mottled brown on the breast suggest the beginning of the body molt, which is actually quite apparent from the photo above and photos taken only 10 days earlier that can be found here near the bottom of the page. The body molt appeared to encompass the breast as mentioned and the speckled black on the back of the bird. When the bird preened, all of the flight feathers seemed to be intact, indicating that wing molt had not commenced.
Trip Summary:
COMMON EIDER apparent first state record at Pebble Beach - Crescent
City (Jul 18)
HARLEQUIN DUCK 4 at Pebble Beach - Crescent City (Jul 18)
MARBLED MURRELET 2 at Pebble Beach - Crescent City (Jul 18)
RHINOCEROS AUKLET 20-25 at Pebble Beach - Crescent City (Jul
18)
CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE rufescens at Patrick's Point SP (Jul
18)
SONG SPARROW morphna at Patrick's Point SP (Jul 18)
Birds:
Common Eider (1)
Harlequin Duck (1)
Western Grebe (2)
Brandt's Cormorant (1)
Double-crested Cormorant (1)
Pelagic Cormorant (1)
Osprey (1)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (1)
Semipalmated Plover (1)
Black Oystercatcher (1)
Greater Yellowlegs (3)
Wandering Tattler (1)
Whimbrel (1)
Marbled Godwit (3)
Black Turnstone (1)
Surfbird (1)
Sanderling (1)
Caspian Tern (1)
Common Murre (1)
Marbled Murrelet (1)
Rhinoceros Auklet (1)
Hutton's Vireo (2)
Black-capped Chickadee (1)
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (2)
Marsh Wren (3)
Swainson's Thrush (2)
Wrentit (2)
American Pipit (1)
Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
Wilson's Warbler (1)
Song Sparrow (2)
American Goldfinch (1)
Odonates:
Blue-eyed Darner (3)
Pacific Fork-Tail (3)
Locations:
1) Pebble Beach - Crescent City (Jul 18)
2) Patrick's Point SP (Jul 18)
3) Arcata Marsh (Jul 18)
7.24 Cordell Bank
A nice trip was had by all. It surely was the calmest Cordell
Bank trip I've ever been on, with portions of the trip being
downright glassy. While there was nothing rare birdwise, it was
an excellent day for marine mammals and pinnipeds.
Black-footed Albatross
Pink-footed Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Ashy Storm-Petrel
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Brandt's Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Marbled Godwit
Black Turnstone
Surfbird
Red-necked Phalarope
Heermann's Gull
Western Gull
Sabine's Gull
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Cassin's Auklet
Rhinoceros Auklet
Yellowlegs sp.
Steller's sea lion
California sea lion
Northern fur seal
Northern elephant seal
Blue whale
Humpback whale
Pacific white-sided dolphin
Northern rightwhale dolphin
Killer whale
Dall's porpoise
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