Mourning Dove

Erika and I looked for ducks on Olympia’s Capitol Lake on 11 November 2020. “Isn’t that a Mourning Dove?” asked Erika. Water seemed an unlikely habitat for a dove. It took me a few seconds to refocus on some nearby railroad tracks. My first Thurston County Mourning Dove photograph—I shared with you one from next-door Mason County a few weeks ago. We are not sure this dove was feeling too spiffy. Its feathers were ruffled and the bird was still in the immediate vicinity when we returned 40 minutes later. I doubt it was hit by a train—more likely the dove had a close encounter with a car or some predator.

Belted Kingfisher

These photos are from 27 October 2020 at the Billy Frank Jr Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. This Belted Kingfisher dove from the railing of a boardwalk above tidal mudflats. The bird flew out of the water, dove, and returned with a fair-sized fish.  I guess the fish is a sculpin, a common, bottom-dwelling species in Puget Sound. Sculpins can produce painful stings. The kingfisher bashed its fish against the boardwalk railing, but I do not know how a kingfisher is supposed to safely swallow even a dead sculpin. Perhaps the bashing breaks dangerous fish spines. They usually swallow their prey headfirst. Did I mention that sculpin can also bite? They have large teeth. Besides fish, kingfishers consume mollusks, crustaceans, insects, amphibians, reptiles, young birds, small mammals, even berries (Kelly et al. 2020).

American Bittern

Strolling along the Nisqually national wildlife refuge dike, Erika and I always stay alert for American Bitterns. We don’t see them often, although these herons are reported from the refuge all year. Bitterns are cryptically colored and they often remain motionless while waiting for passing prey—insects, amphibians, crayfish, small mammals and fish (Lowther et al. 2020).  On 9 November 2020, we independently noticed something move in the marsh. When I raised my camera, I couldn’t find the bird. “Its to the right of the dark brown vegetation,” instructed Erika. So I took a photo of the vegetation, which you can see above. Enlarging and cropping the image, I was surprised to have captured the bittern. If you can not see the bird in the second photo, look for the bittern’s eye. These birds can be common, if infrequently seen. Unfortunately, their populations are declining due to loss of wetland habitats across much of the northern United States and southern Canada.

Hooded Merganser

According to Idioms on Line, the saying “like water off a duck’s back” has been used since the early 1800’s. The saying applies when one is not affected by insults or criticisms. Ducks may spend up to 25% of their time preening, spreading oil from a gland on their rumps (KQED). Further, ducks have more and denser feathers than many other birds. Erika and I photographed water droplets on this Hooded Merganser’s back on 7 November 2020 at Olympia’s Capitol Lake.

Zeller’s Bolete

Erika and I found this spectacular mushroom between our driveway and the forest. “I don’t think you should nibble on that one!” exclaimed Erika. When we submitted our photos to iNaturalist, the app immediately identified it as Zeller’s Bolete. It seems that this fungus is edible, although “the taste is not exemplary” (Mushrooms of Vancouver). If you are foolish enough to eat wild mushrooms, Smith writes “observe the usual precautions.” In other words, absolutely know what you are doing. Another drawback to this fungus is that maggots often infest the mushroom’s flesh. Zeller’s Bolete is found in western North America from  British Columbia into Mexico and is characteristic of Pacific Northwest forests and forest edges.

Northern Harrier

Erika and I photographed this first Northern Harrier on 10 February 2020 at the Nisqually wildlife refuge. In all the photos, note the owl-like facial disk. This hawk is easily identified by its white rump, unless it is hidden, as it is more or less in these photos. Otherwise harriers are told by their large size, and long wings and tails. Often they soar low over fields and marshes. 

The photos of the flying harrier were also taken at the refuge, but on 30 October 2020. In all these images, note the owl-like facial disc on these birds. These feathers allow the harrier to locate its prey by hearing the prey rustle through the marshland. In the summer, harriers capture mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. Wintering birds eat what is available, usually voles. Sometimes a drop in vole numbers will cause harriers not to breed during the subsequent spring.

American Kestrel

American Kestrels are uncommon residents in western Washington. We do not see them very often. These little falcons are more common in eastern Washington and elsewhere across much of North and South America. We photographed this male kestrel on 27 October 2020 at the Billy Frank Jr National Wildlife Refuge. Our understanding of what falcons are has changed greatly since the advent of molecular systematics. We used to think that falcons were closely related to hawks and vultures. Now we think they share ancestors with parrots and songbirds. The evidence is robust enough to move falcons away from the hawks and next to woodpeckers and vireos in most current North American bird lists.

American and Eurasian Wigeons

On 30 October 2020, I took photographs of a gaggle of American Wigeons on Olympia’s Capitol Lake. “What is the duck with the reddish head?” asked Erika. At the edge of the wigeon swarm swam an Eurasian Wigeon. This common European and Asian duck breeds into western Alaska. Migrants are regular, and locally common, along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America. During the winter, we occasionally find this species at the Nisqually national wildlife refuge—this record is our first away from the refuge. 

Yellow-billed Loon

Sometimes eBird can be frustrating. You submit a rare bird and the record is labeled “Unconfirmed,” but you get no feedback about why. Take this bird that Erika and I photographed on Capitol Lake in Olympia on 30 October 2020. To us it is clearly a loon with a massive, sharply up-angled ivory-colored bill. The bill is not dark on the top all the way to the tip and and end of the bill is pale, not dark. The head is also relatively pale, a field mark of the Yellow-billed Loon. I think the pale stripe under the eye is also diagnostic.  Perhaps the problem is that other birders have not relocated this bird. This species breeds in the western Arctic and winters in the northern Pacific, very rarely to Puget sound. If eBird does not accept our sighting, it is their loss. The bird will still appear in my eBird lifelist—other birders will just not be able to easily find the record.

Aleutian Goose

On 27 October 2020 at the Nisqually national wildlife refuge Erika and I found a bird we have not previously seen—an Aleutian Goose. These geese used to be considered to be a distinct species, but were merged as a subspecies under Canada Geese, and then recently moved to a race of Cackling Goose. Field marks that add up to make this an Aleutian Goose include 1) a complete, wide, and prominent white collar;  2 the white on cheeks is not extensive and is separated by a black stripe on throat; 3) the collar is bordered immediately below by dark, almost black breast feathers; 4) a relatively pale back and belly; and 5) a small, round head.

Aleutian Geese breed on the western Aleutian Islands; they winter chiefly in central California. These geese have made “one of the most astounding recoveries in the history of wildlife management.” Fifty years ago, fewer than 800 of these geese survived—victims of people introducing non-native Arctic Fox onto their breeding grounds. After removing the fox and after rigorous habitat management, these birds were removed from the Endangered Species Act.  Now each fall, about 200,000 birds migrate down our West Coast  (USFW).