Washington State

June 9 

My friend Christian and I went birding early, looking for Black Swift at Lake Sammamish. We got to the state park when they opened at 6:30, and immediately found swifts over the far hillside. Most appeared to likely be Vaux's Swifts (which I'd gotten on January 2nd in Louisiana), but we thought we had picked out a couple of Black Swifts amongst them. We drove out of the park and over to the hillside where we had seen them, and found them feeding not high above the trees. What incredible looks at a life bird! You could even see the white on the front of the faces of the males. Once again, not winning any photo contests by not carrying a camera, but I managed documentation shots digibinned with my iPhone through my Swarovski binoculars. 

Later, we went back into the park in search of a Cassin's Vireo (which we never found), and found a very strange Common Yellowthroat which sounded very much Ovenbird-y, throwing some of the best birders for a loop with the recording. Upon leaving the woods, we came back to the lake and I was incredibly surprised to have a Shawneen Finnegan sighting! There may have been some squealing and a lot of laughter. I usually get to see her at the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival which was cancelled last year. She was there leading a VENT tour along with Victor Emmanuel himself. 

Christian headed off to work, and I made my way up to Mount Rainier in search of Sooty Grouse. It was midday, so I figured I'd probably end up going for a hike and enjoying the afternoon, before focusing on the grouse later in the evening hours, when fewer people were in the park. After stopping at the visitor center and talking with a ranger, he confirmed my decision to hike first and Sooty Grouse later. While driving down to lower elevation to find a hiking trail, I  turned the first corner and a car was stopped in the road - there is no shoulder on this road. Having to wait, I  noticed out of the corner of my eye, they were looking at a pair of Sooty Grouse right there! The male was displaying and courting a female just a few feet away from it, though she appeared generally uninterested. I found a spot to turn around, parked back up in the parking area, and walked down with my scope. I refound the male across the road (yikes) in a nearby tree on the slope below me, making him approximately eye level. I spent an over an hour watching him feed and display (and feed and display, simultaneously), standing on the side of the road with occasional cars wizzing past. I could have done without the roadside location, but the experience was still incredible. The extent to which these birds do not fear people is unreal. 

Year List: 631

June 10th

After spending another night in Seattle, I headed to Sequim Bay State Park, to set up camp before heading to do some seabirding. I found a bayside campsite, parked in it and got out, walked around a bit and realized there was a different site I  liked better. I backed up and...bam! I'm not sure what I hit, but the vibration of the entire car told me it wasn't good. There was 9 miles on this car when I  picked it up, and I was using my own insurance. It was today that I learned that one of the new fancy technologies in cars is that they rumble when you're about to hit something. Whew! Such a relief.

 A walk down to the boat launch area produced a few Pigeon Guillemots (which I  would continue to accidentally call Black Guillemots for the duration of the trip - so strange that I literally went from seeing Black Guillies in Maine to Pigeon Guillies here!) and a singing Cassin's Vireo in the nearby scrubby area. 

I picked up some Pad Thai and egg rolls for lunch in Sequim, and headed for a picnic lunch at Marlyn Nelson County Park. It had been raining on and off all day, and I had to wipe down the picnic bench seat with my beach towel. I was starvingggg! One of my biggest struggles of this year is remembering to eat - and eating enough - with how busy I've been and how many distractions I have! I  had to buy smaller jeans on this trip, because I've lost so much muscle in the last several months. Time to prioritize eating more! I opened the egg rolls, and sauce, and pad Thai...and they forgot to include utensils!!! Clearly, the eating of the egg rolls is self explanatory, but after scrounging around my rental car and realizing there was nothing at all that could possibly serve as a utensil, I wound up using the little cardboard flap on top of the egg roll box as a makeshift spoon. I should clarify, I used ALL of the flaps, because they quickly got too soggy to be useful anymore. I did some scanning of the water with my scope, and picked out a few distant but identifiable Rhinoceros Auklets. 

Next stop was Ediz Hook, where some Tufted Puffins had been reported within the last week. Although I    spent a few hours at this location, the best I could do for new year birds was a few dozen Harlequin Ducks. West coast seabirding is one of the places I've felt most out of my element, having spent very little time here. 

June 11th 

I met David and Tammy McQuade at 9 am at the marina in Sequim, for an attempt at finding Horned Puffin on Smith Island, a few hour boat ride from Sequim. I'd planned my trip around their invite to join them on the boat and was really hoping to get this bird for my Lower 48 Big Year! They only rarely wander into the Lower 48 and are usually only found in Canada and Alaska. The weather was not looking in our favor to begin with, and we were right. We were on the water about an hour before the captain said we'd need to turn around. The extra bummer is that we weren't even able to pick out a Tufted Puffin from Protection Island. I'd have to hope to see Tufted Puffin on a return visit to the Pacific Northwest. 

I'd fly out tomorrow morning to Minneapolis. 

Year List: 635