Pacific Northwest Introductory Tour
Posted by Bob Sundstrom
Bob Sundstrom
Bob Sundstrom has led VENT tours since 1989 to destinations including Hawaii, Mexico, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, Iceland, Papua New Guinea, the Southwest Pacific islands,...Our 2007 Pacific Northwest Introductory tour once again proved that mid-July is an excellent time to enjoy the wildlife and natural beauty of this region. Participants on this five-day tour met at the Seattle airport, then drove directly to the rural south Puget Sound region. Here we birded the upper reaches of Scatter Creek and enjoyed a wonderful first dinner at leader Bob Sundstrom's home in the country, while watching lots of bird activity in the yard. Purple Finches and Black-headed Grosbeaks competed for space at the feeders, while ten or more Rufous Hummingbirds sped back and forth among the flowers. California Quail brought their chicks to the yard, as Western Scrub-Jays and Cedar Waxwings glided back and forth among the serviceberry shrubs.
After another morning of birding in the same vicinity, we left for the Olympic Peninsula with a fine list of birds already under our belts: close views of Red-breasted Sapsucker and Pileated Woodpecker, and such western specialties as Hermit and Black-throated Gray warblers, Hutton's Vireo, and Chestnut-backed Chickadee. Driving north along the lengthy fjord known as Hood Canal, we stopped at a mudflat busy with shorebirds, gulls, and terns. It was a bit farther north, at the mouth of Discovery Bay, that we hit our first bonanza of seabirds. A short walk down a lovely beach brought us views of endangered Marbled Murrelets, Common Murres, lots of flashy Pigeon Guillemots and heavy-billed Rhinoceros Auklets, and one much anticipated Tufted Puffin.
On the morning of Day 3, after a sumptuous breakfast in Port Angeles, we drove up the winding road toward the heights of Hurricane Ridge, a mile above the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Misty conditions along the route were ideal for grouse activity: including adults and chicks we saw more than 15 Sooty Grouse?an amazing run of luck for a species that can behave very shyly. The following day we once again saw several Sooty Grouse broods, this time along another mountain road. Sooty Grouse is part of the former Blue Grouse species, which was recently split into Sooty Grouse (Dendragapus fuliginosa), the darker Pacific form, and Dusky Grouse (D. obscurus) of the interior West.
As we started back down from the summit of Hurricane Ridge, another surprise awaited. Just off the roadside, perched atop a fallen tree, was a wholly unexpected Long-eared Owl! The owl looked as surprised as we did, but sat long enough for an excellent view of its narrow facial disks and tall "ear" tufts. This is one of very few confirmed records of this owl for the Olympic Mountains. A bit farther down the slope, the roadside shone with myriad wildflowers: paintbrush, bog orchids, pink elephant's head, larkspur?a few of the hundred or more flowers, shrubs, and trees that made up the flora list for the tour.
Later that same day we birded the Strait shoreline near Port Angeles, where a couple of dozen Harlequin Ducks swam and dove nearby, Black Turnstones crept over log booms among harbor seals and Pigeon Guillemots, and red-billed Heermann's Gulls still sported the silvery-white heads of breeding plumage. A few miles east near Dungeness, a high tide brought breeding plumage Black-bellied Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones, Long-billed Dowitchers, and a hunting Peregrine Falcon up onto roadside plowed fields.
On the final full day of our tour we ranged from the Quilcene River, where an American Dipper put on a great show, to Tongue Point west of Port Angeles, where a Wandering Tattler foraged over shoreline rocks as Bald Eagles and Northwest Crows flew over the tall conifers. A morning walk from the lodge turned up Red Crossbills, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and a very confiding red and yellow Western Tanager. The most entertaining sighting of the morning may have been the family of five raccoons foraging together in the shallows of Sequim Bay, up to their bellies in salt water, but with their tails held aloft, lest they get wet.
Before long we were ferrying across Puget Sound back toward Seattle, for flights home from a fondly remembered trip.