Pigeon Guillemot

We drove the backway and took the Bremerton Ferry to Seattle last weekend. The weather was perfect, our friends in Seattle were delightful, but we saw relatively few birds. We missed our return ferry by three minutes, leaving us an hour to discover a half-dozen Pigeon Guillemots under the pier.

Guillemots are auks, birds of northern oceans. At one time or another, auks have been thought to be related to penguins (although auks can fly), loons, grebes, or diving-petrels. Recent studies ally the auks with gulls, with both groups sharing a shorebird-like common ancestor. They often feed along inland waters. They dive to the seabed for fish and vegetation. Birds are vulnerable to oil pollution, gill-netting and mammalian predators, but their range is so wide that they do not appear to be globally threatened (Ewins 1993).

Evening Grosbeak

We were delighted to discover a pair of Evening Grosbeaks at our feeder on 6 June 2019. The female fed while the male flew into our banding net. The female then followed the male into the net. Then both birds escaped.

We enjoyed seeing Evening Grosbeaks in northern Minnesota. Eastern and western populations are slightly different. Western birds have longer bills and the females tend to have darker, brownish-washed underparts. The second image, of a female from Minnesota, sort of illustrates the difference in bill size. Evening Grosbeak flight calls have at least four dialects across North America. Western birds have somewhat clearer calls, whereas eastern ones tend to be more raspy. The difference, however, is subtle. Evening Grosbeak flight calls are usually unmistakable. These grosbeaks are odd songbirds in that they seldom sing (Gillihan and Byers 2002).

Black-headed Grosbeak

I expected to see a Black-headed Grosbeak at our feeder and, on 5 June 2019, we discovered this male at the suet. Grosbeaks are seed-eaters. Our suet is mixed with seeds and bug parts and fortified with calcium, ingredients that attract a surprising variety of birds.

Black-headed Grosbeaks are odd songbirds. First, some ornithologists consider them to be the same species as the Rose-breasted Grosbeak—just the western form of two subspecies. Females are hard to tell apart and the two types do occasionally interbreed where their ranges meet in the Great Plains. Alan Phillips considered the two forms to be the same species and named them Common Grosbeaks.

Black-headed Grosbeaks are monogamous. Males and females about equally share nesting chores. Males often take up to two years to attain breeding plumage. Second-year males are more likely to breed the more they resemble males in full breeding plumage. Females usally sing a toned-down version of the male song. Occasionally she sings just like the male. Ortega and Hill (2010) write that singing a full male song deceives “mates about the presence of intruders and forces greater nest attentiveness.”

Western Wood-Pewee

Saint Martin's University in Olympia enjoys a lovely campus. On 5 June 2019, Erika and I took a short stroll there. Among other birds, we found a Western Wood-Pewee, a common flycatcher in western North America from Alaska to northern Central America. Eastern Wood-Pewees breed in eastern North America, and barely overlap with western birds. Western and Eastern Wood-Pewees are nearly identical. Only their ranges and songs can be used to identify them.

Wood-Pewees flycatch from open twigs, often returning to the same perches after each sally. They eat a wide variety of flying insects.  Bemis and Rising (1999) warn that, although still common birds, Western Wood-Pewee populations may be declining due to habitat destruction both in their breeding and winter ranges.

Great Blue Heron

Erika and I found this Great Blue Heron on Capitol Lake in Olympia on 30 April 2019. I have seen this heat-regulating behavior a few times. I assured passersby that the bird was not wounded. Other herons have similar behavior in which the birds make a shadow that attract unfortunate minnows within striking distance. That behavior, however, has a more horizontal aspect. The linked photo is of a heron on dry land, and this bird is casting a fairly scant shadow.

Black-tailed Deer

An unwelcome visitor to Erika’s garden. Several of her plants are missing in action and she is not a happy gardener. She also is unhappy when people like the men in her family confuse antlers and horns. 

Antlers are found on deer, like this Black-tailed Deer. Antlers are usually found only on males and are extensions of the deer’s skull. They are annually shed and regrown.

Horns are found on antelope, sheep, and bison. Horns are found on males and females (although they are often smaller on females). Horns have two parts, an extension of the skull and a sheath of specialized  hair follicles. Although antelopes shed their horns, normally horns remain on the animal all year (NPS).

Hammond’s Flycatcher

Yesterday, 3 June 2019, Erika drove 50 miles to Forest Service land adjacent to the Olympic National Park. We took an easy, three-mile trail to Staircase Falls, just within the National Park. The Old Growth Forest was gorgeous but the wildlife disappointing. The only bird of interest was this Empidonax Flycatcher, perched on a tall snag in the forest. The genus Empidonax contains a suite of species that are notoriously difficult to tell apart—especially when they are silent. A number of factors lead me to conclude this bird is a Hammond’s Flycatcher. The first hint is its habitat. Other species are found low in trees and shrubbery and often prefer non-coniferous habitat. Note the notched tail—other Empidonax have square-ended tails. The wings on our bird are relatively long, extending well along the tail. Finally the bill is relatively small, even compared to other Empidonax species, small birds as they are. 

California Darner

I found a male California Darner in my bird net on 13 May 2019. Dragonflies are hard to remove from my nets, but I released this darner unharmed. I recently commented that this species is a small and early-flying darner. The name commemorates its place of discovery rather than its range, which extends over much of the western tier and some of the interior of the United States and southwestern Canada. This species often flies around forest clearings like that of our backyard.

Song Sparrow

I recently posted about dark Song Sparrows in the Olympia region. Another difference seems to be their habit of cocking their tail. One could almost confuse the sparrows with wrens. Erika and I have not noticed this behavior, at least in the frequency seen here, in Eastern birds. Reviewing a few literature sources, I find no mention of this behavior. 

Common Loon

On 23 April 2019, Erika and I found a Common Loon diving in Capitol Lake in Olympia. We watched it swallow a small fish, which was kind of odd. Loons usually consume small fish under water. They may bring larger fish to the surface, where they break their prey up or discard it. In any case, although they take whatever fish species they can capture, they seem to prefer perch and bluegills. Loons also eat crustaceans, especially when water is muddy or fish are scarce. Chicks are fed fish, but also crustaceans, snails, leeches, and dragonfly and beetle larvae (Evers et al. 2010).