Northern Harrier

Northern Harriers nest in dense vegetation on the ground. They also roost on the ground, in numbers, in the winter, of one to 85. Erika and I have observed only up to three harriers at any given day at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. We do regularly find perched birds at two locations, one location on the ground and the other consisting of small shrubs. We have not seen other raptors near the harriers—not counting a harrier harassing a nearby Red-tailed Hawk—but there are reports of multi-species roosts. Some roost locations exist at the same location over many years (Smith el al. 2011). We took this photo on 8 January 2020.

White-winged Scoter

The Pacific Northwest is living up to its soggy reputation. On 9 January I took advantage of a foggy break in the deluge to try to add White-winged Scoter to my 2020 birdlist. Success—I finally photographed a white-winged White-winged Scoter! I was confused by this bird’s plumage. It lacked the tear-drop eye stripe of the male scoters I previously found. But the bird also lacks the white head spots I expected on a female. I suspect this bird is a first-winter male, as illustrated in the Sibley bird guide. (As I write this link, this book is almost 30% off at Amazon.)

Western Meadowlark

Two Western Meadowlarks perched high in a dead tree on January 8, 2020 at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Western Meadowlarks are western—they breed fron northwestern Canada east to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and a few even breed in New York. They nest south through midwest to Baja California and into the Mexican highlands. They winter fairly far north and move towards the southeast, but the exact range is unclear since, in the winter,  separating Western and Eastern meadowlarks is difficult. Western Meadowlarks are introduced to Hawaii.

In Washington, Western Meadowlarks are common permanent residents in the east and are locally uncommon in the west. The southern Pugest Sound region, where we live, is one of these local western areas. Western Meadowlarks used to be more common in the west, but urban debelopment and large-scale farming have destroyed grasslands, the major, meadowlark habitat (Wahl et al. 2005).

Geese

Erika and I took this photo of a Snow Goose on 13 December 2019 at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. This bird does not appear to be the same individual that we saw there on 7 November. We saw another single bird during the refuge Christmas Count on 17 December. More interesting to me was the Cackling Goose behind the Snow Goose. Because of its white neck collar, I wondered if this bird could be the rare Aleutian Goose. At least four races of Cackling Geese are described. This bird is probably not an Aleutian Goose, since that race’s neck collar is usually complete, wide, and prominent. Also, the white cheek patches are small and not connected on the throat on an Aleutian Goose.

Richardson’s Geese, another of the races, usually does not show a white neck band. The two remaining subspecies are called Cackling and Taverner’s geese. I am not sure which of the races this bird is. I lean towards Cackling Goose because of its short neck. Taverner’s Goose is supposed to have a rounder head and even a more stubby bill—but these two field marks are both variable and subjective (Mowbray et al. 2002).

Hooded Merganser

Hooded Merganser drakes are striking ducks. Hens are also handsome. The first photo was taken at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge on 5 December 2019, The pair of mergansers swam in the Olympia harbor on 4 January 2020. I heard two birders comment that every day is a bad hair day for female mergansers, but I think both these hens are relatively well coiffed.

Hooded Mergansers are common across the breeding range in eastern and western Canada and the United States. In ice-free areas like western Washington, these ducks can be year-round residents. Although Hooded Mergansers eat fish like other mergansers (see third image), Hoodeds have a broader diet, including “aquatic insects, and crustaceans, particularly crayfish” (Dugger et al. 2009).

Trumpeter Swan

Thanks to eBird and the Washington birders’ listserv, Erika and I were aware that Trumpeter Swans had been seen on Olympia’s Capitol lake since the first of the year. We found two swans at the south end of the late on 5 January 2020. Trumpeter Swans were nearly extinct in early 20th century, but populations have rebounded thanks to strict hunting prohibitions, reintroductions, and habitat preservation.

Trumpeter and Tundra swans are similar (eBird). Trumpeter Swans never show yellow on their bill. Their facial skin is relatively broad where it meets the eye, so the eye does not stand out. The border between the bill and the white face is straight, not curved. Another field mark is that, in the front of the swan, where the forehead meets the bill, the white forehead is pointed. Tundra Swans usually have curved forehead points. Closeup, Trumpeter Swans have a reddish line between their mandibles.

Pied-billed Grebe

A non-breeding Pied-billed Grebe, in the Olympia harbor on 4 January 2020, allowed close approach. Just what is a grebe? Curiously, ornithologists don’t know—grebes do not appear to be closely related to any other birds (Llimona et al. 2020). Traditionally grebes were allied with loons, but scientists generally agree this similarity is due to shared behavior rather than genetic ties, an example of convergent evolution. Now grebes are thought to be derived from the oldest birds, stock that also led to herons, storks, albatross and shearwaters, pelicans and cormorants, and penguins. Despite this ancient lineage, grebes are a fairly cohesive bird family. They have pointed bills (the Pied-billed sports one of the smallest grebe bills), lobed toes, and greatly reduced tails. The grebe family is found almost everywhere in the world. The New World contains the greatest diversity of grebes.

Ruddy Duck

Ruddy Ducks are locally common migrants and wintering birds in western Washington. A few even breed in the area. The first of these birds is a basic (winter) plumaged male. I believe the second is also a male just beginning to molt into alternate (breeding) plumage. The second bird appears reddish on the nect and on the posterior flanks. Both photographs were taken at Olympia’s Capitol Lake, the first on Christmas Day and the second on 3 January 2020.

Pelagic Cormorant

At Woodard Bay Conservation Area on 1 January 2020, we noticed a few distant cormorants. Their small size, dark faces, and glossy plumage all add up to their being Pelagic Cormorants, which seem to hang out further in the bay than do the far more abundant Double-crested Cormorant.  2020 bird list building marches along! For more Pelagic Cormorant natural history, follow this link.

Barrow’s Goldeneye

This drake Barrow’s Goldeneye was nearly our first bird of 2020—beaten only by our hearing an American Crow and seeing a Spotted Towhee at home. We enjoyed a New Year’s stroll at Woodard Bay Conservation Area. Despite a rainy forecast for the first week of 2020, we enjoyed a sunny afternoon. I took the remaining photos of Barrow’s Goldeneyes, including a female in the final picture, on 24 December 2019. All these images were also taken at the conservation area.