Seattle and Anacortes Ferry - August, 2019

[Randy]

I know it's a little after-the-fact but thought I would share a few photos. My brother Rob and I went to the Jays series in Seattle at the end of August. He came over to Abbotsford from Victoria and on the way down we stopped at Discovery Park. This was actually a pretty good location. Here are a few photos:

Mallards in an algae-filled pond:


Pileated woodpecker:


Red-breasted Nuthatch:


It was really interesting - as we were walking along the beach this cowbird flew from about 100 metres away and landed DIRECTLY on the scope Rob was carrying! It stayed for a minute or so - easily long enough for some photos. Had to pull out my cell phone though because it was too close to use my camera!



After the weekend we took the Anacortes ferry back to Sidney where I was meeting my family in Sooke for a week. We wandered the beach before boarding the ferry and saw a few species:

Double-crested cormorant:


California gulls:


Heerman's gull:


We stayed at the front of the ferry for the duration and enjoyed the birds. Here are some of them:

Pigeon guillemot:


Pelagic cormorant:



Heerman's gull:


This one I wasn't positive of - it was flying very low over the water near Sidney. I suspect it is just a pelagic but I was wondering about a juvenile Brandt's:


Glaucous-winged gull:


Overall a great Jays' series and weekend! We managed 45 species - not bad considering birding was not at all the focus of the trip.

Here's the list for the weekend:

Mallard
Hooded Merganser
Rock Pigeon
Anna's Hummingbird
Black Oystercatcher
Red-necked Phalarope
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Marbled Murrelet
Rhinoceros Auklet
Heermann's Gull
Mew Gull
California Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)
Caspian Tern
Pelagic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
American/Northwestern Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Purple Martin
Bushtit
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
American Goldfinch
White-crowned Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Spotted Towhee
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orange-crowned Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler

[Ben]

Hi Randy,

Sounds like a fun trip!
Is that bird on the tripod a young Brown-headed Cowbird? Or do you know what species it is?

I put my vote for the cormorant on Pelagic, I would expect Brandt's to have a lighter face.

[Randy]

Yes it's a cowbird. Sorry I meant to put that in the post. I will edit it.

Thanks for your vote! . The only reason I was wondering about Brandt's was that the bill seemed a little thick. I don't have a lot of experience with Brandt's but I notice in Sibley's it seems the juveniles don't have a pale face.

[Chris]

Nice report Randy. Great photos as well especially of the cormorant species.

I think that is a Pelagic. I had some experience between Brandt's and Pelagic in Oregon but most of the time they were roosting on rocks.

[Gord]

Beautiful photos. The Pelagic Cormorant is excellent. Those cowbirds sure can be tame at that age.