Barrrow’s Goldeneye

Barrow’s Goldeneyes are among our favorite local winter birds. Erika and I found this one at Woodard Bay Preserve near Olympia on 23 November 2020. These ducks have an interesting range. A few breed in Iceland and locally in Quebec. Most breed in Rocky Mountain Lakes and winter in the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere in the western United States. About 60% of the approximately 200,000 Barrow’s Goldeneyes breed and winter in British Columbia. Others breed in Alaska and the northern Rocky Mountains. Eadie et al. (2020) write that this duck is “named for John Barrow (1764-1848) of the British Admiralty in recognition of his support of arctic exploration.” 

White-throated Sparrow

We only see a few White-throated Sparrows in Ollympia. This sparrow breeds across Canada from eastern British Columbia to the northeastern United States. Most birds head southeast in the fall and winter in the southern and southeastern part of the United States. Some birds migrate to and winter along the west coast of the United States. The species commonly visits feeders during migration and winter. Erika and I banded this individual in our backyard in Olympia on 26 November 2020.

Brandt’s Cormorant

Three cormorant species are reported from Budd Bay in Olympia. Most are Double-crested Cormorants. Occasionally I have seen Brandt’s Cormorants on a distant channel light, like these on 10 November 2020. Actually I have never recorded Pelagic Cormorants here, but they pop up on eBird now and again. I have seen Pelagics at nearby Woodward Bay, about 6 miles east of Olympia. Note the yellow chin bar and the relatively thin, dark bill on the Brant’s Cormorant in this photo. (The bird is actually sticking its neck up from behind another cormorant.) The final photo was taken by me in La Jolla, California, in March 2012.

Brandt’s Cormorants are found along the North American coast from Alaska to northern Mexico. This cormoant is named for a Russian ornithologist, who first described the species in 1838 from a specimen in the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg, Russia. The type specimen is now lost and the original collector of the bird is unknown. Wallace and Wallace (2020) speculate “The specimen likely was collected by Russian naturalists during one of several expeditions to the Pacific Coast of North America during the early 1800s.”

Killdeer

Erika and I found three Killdeer on KGY Point in northern Olympia on 10 November 2020 KGY Point. In the midwest, I think of Killdeer as being summer birds. Here in western Washington, these plovers are seen all year. Killdeer are found in a wide variety of habitats—these were at the edge of a parking lot near the Farmer’s Market. Killdeer are named for their calls. Historical names include Chattering Plover and Noisy Plover. Killdeers, although common, are threatened by “pesticides, oil pollution, lawnmowers, and automobiles” (Jackson and Jackson 2020),

Fly Agaric

The Burke museum writes, “with its bright red cap and white 'polka dots,' the typical Amanita muscaria no doubt is the most widely recognized mushroom in the world.” Erika and I found a stand of these fungus at Woodard Bay Preserve on 23 November 2020. Fly Agaric naturally grows in forested areas of the Northern Hemisphere and has been introduced to the Southern. This mushroom is psychoactive, but poisonous—especially if you eat too much or prepare it poorly. To our surprise, a quick WEB search uncovers a thriving, apparently legal, commerce in Fly Agaric. We think eating such a mushroom is a fool’s mission—we urge you not to consume Fly Agaric. The hallucinogenic and effects of the mushroom are unpredictable. Although death is rare, it is possible. One clue to the wisdom of ingesting this mushroom is that one folk use is to kill flies (Wikipedia)—hence its name. The word Agaric is derived from a Middle-English word for mushroom.

Long-tailed Duck

A Long-tailed Duck (or two) have been popping up on eBird during November. Erika and I made dozens unsuccessful forays in search of the duck. On 22 November 2020 we received yet another rare bird alert from eBird. (You can set the alert parameters up in the app.) Two Long-tailed Ducks were seen in Budd Bay in the previous 90 minutes about a mile from our home. Erika sent me out alone, and, for once, I immediately found at least one of the ducks. I took the lower photo first and then discovered a Long-tailed Duck at even closer quarters. You can decide if they are the same bird (I am not sure). 

“Long-tailed Duck” is a European name for a species that breeds in the northern taiga around the world. Americans used to call this duck “Oldsquaw.” “Squaw,” historically, is often a pejorative word, and ornithologists changed the name to conform to its Old World appellation.  In North America, Long-tailed Ducks winter mainly along the coasts south to the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound. Others winter in the Great Lakes. Actually the species winters along all our coasts, and in Mexico's Gulf of California. Straddlers can be found across all of the United States. The population size is hard to estimate—they often winter far off shore. Data suggest, however, that despite hunting pressure and environmental pollution, populations in eastern North America are stabile, while west coast numbers are drastically declining (Robertson and Savard 2020). In any event, this encounter is only the fourth of my birding career. I first saw the species in Maryland sixty years ago. I have since listed it once in South Dakota and once in Wisconsin.

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Herons are often quite tame at the Billy Frank Jr National Wildlife Refuge. They search for prey along the refuge dikes. Often the herons freeze, waiting for movement in the grass. We have seen the herons swallowing frogs, mice, and even relatively large snakes. In the nearby ponds, they aggressively search for fish. Herons will eat almost anything they can capture. Records of their eating birds are in the literature (Vennesland and Butler 2020).
 

Gadwall

The Gadwall white wing patch is smaller on a female than on a male, but in both sexes this field mark may be hidden, as in the male in this photograph. Erika and I took this image at the Billy Frank Jr National Wildlife Refuge on 9 November 2020. Despite having a huge range across mid latitudes of North America, Asia, and eastern Europe, only two subspecies are currently recognized. Mareca strepera couesi was described from the southwest Pacific in 1874. Two birds were shot, both the size or a teal, and this small race has not been seen again and is assumed to be extinct (Leschaek et al. 2020).

Bald Eagle

The last time Erika and I visited the Darlin Creek Reserve near Olympia (on 10 November 2020), a disheveled Bald Eagle greeted us. These raptors take five or six years to achieve their striking, black and white plumage. I suspect this bird is a four-year-old. When it next molts, in its fifth year, the bird will lose the black band at the tip of the tail. 

Pine Siskin

In the Birds of the World, Dawson (2020) writes "The opportunistic nature of [Pine Siskins and their] partial indifference to constraints of time and space make [them] an intriguing subject for a variety of studies.” They usually breed across northern North America and south through the Rockies into Central America. They winter across southern Canada and almost all of the United States. Pine Siskins are an irruptive species, abundant one year and often absent the next—probably in response to the abundance of seed  crops. If there is enough food, siskins may breed in areas where they usually just winter. During my 25 years of banding in Aberdeen, South Dakota, I banded 13,239 Pine Siskins. Two recoveries illustrate their nomadic nature--one banded in Aberdeen on 10 March 1985 was found in Connecticut on 11 March 1988; another Aberdeen siskin, banded on 12 December 1992 was recovered near San Francisco, California, on 5 January 1995.

Here in western Washington, siskins breed and winter. This year is an irruptive year elsewhere in the United States. Our banded backyard breeding birds appear to be displaced by huge, swirling flocks of visitors. Erika and I took this photo of one of a flock of at least 30 birds at the Nisqually national wildlife refuge on 9 November 2020.