Winter Washington and British Columbia Feb 13—20, 2010
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,...Related Trips
Our 2010 Winter Washington and British Columbia tour was favored by a week of almost spring-like weather, amid sunny days, blue skies, and temperatures reaching into the 50s. The tour route began in Seattle, then ran south along Puget Sound to Nisqually, and then back north to the Olympic Peninsula where we spent two nights near Port Angeles. From there, we crossed to Vancouver Island and then on to mainland British Columbia before returning to the north Puget Sound region. Birding extensively along the edges of marine bays and straits, along forest edges, among vast, diked fields of delta flats, and from the bows of ferries, we had many terrific birding experiences. Together with wonderful food, very nice lodging, and great company, it was a week filled with memorable scenes of nature.
Near Port Angeles, we encountered a small flock of Varied Thrushes, wintering in the lowlands. The thrushes hopped along a shady forest edge, turning leaves with their bills as they foraged, gradually coming closer and closer to the van. We had wonderful views of boldly patterned males and subtly patterned females, all dappled above in black and orange—an ideal camouflage as they hopped over leaf litter at the shadowy forest edge.
On a ferry crossing from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island, pair after pair of Marbled Murrelets—endangered in the Northwest—flew past the ferry's bow. It was such a calm day that we could even hear the murrelets whistling to one another as they took flight. On the same crossing of Admiralty Inlet, we had our best and closest views of dashing Long-tailed Ducks as small flocks winged by the bow. The same day, along a rocky shoreline, we were treated to point-blank views of ornate Harlequin Ducks, swimming a few feet from shore. Along other rocky shorelines from Port Townsend, Washington to Victoria, B.C., we would enjoy terrific views of shorebirds of this milieu: Black Oystercatchers, Black Turnstones, and Surfbirds all turned up for close scope scrutiny.
During the ferry crossing from Port Angeles to Victoria we had a very nice surprise of a hundred or more Black-legged Kittiwakes. There were adults with crisp, black triangular wing tips and immatures with bold black-white-gray back patterning. More of an offshore bird, we were fortunate to see them. Not long after we had completed this crossing, we stood below singing Sky Larks, as they hovered high in the air and poured forth their long, rich songs. Difficult to see once they touch down, we had good scope views of one hunkered on the ground.
Another highlight, this time in the broad, open agricultural areas south of Vancouver, B.C., was a regal gray Gyrfalcon. The huge falcon stayed perched atop an electrical tower, allowing tremendous scope views for as long as we wished to watch it. At another stop north of the border, a Golden Eagle with glistening golden nape shared a tall, bare tree with a Bald Eagle. Golden Eagles are rare in the western lowlands. Bald Eagles, on the other hand, are numerous in winter here. From the first day of the tour to the last, we saw Bald Eagles soaring and perched, and in pairs sitting alongside immense nests. We saw hundreds altogether.
The tour featured many, many birds of prey. Just south of the U.S. border we came upon a Short-eared Owl standing in a field, watching us with intense yellow eyes—a thrill for all of us. A Peregrine Falcon suddenly flew in—a very pale, bluish gray Peregrine. The Peregrine landed on the ground and, as we watched it preen, we found that another Peregrine Falcon was perched just a few utility poles down the road. At another spot along Skagit Bay, three Peregrines were lined up near the shore, as an immense flock of Dunlin sought a place to land at high tide. The flock numbered between five and ten thousand Dunlin, all flying in unison, performing what seemed almost magical aerobatic maneuvers.
The prevalence of raptors was more than matched by the abundance of waterfowl. Altogether, we saw 30 species of swans, geese, and ducks—likely more than almost any other area in North America can claim. Flocks of hundreds of Trumpeter and Tundra swans whitened many broad farm fields, and thousands and thousands of American Wigeons, Northern Pintails, and Mallards crowded the landscape. Eurasian Wigeons were sprinkled among the flocks of American Wigeons. We saw both goldeneye species, all three scoters, and all three mergansers— and all in their finest nuptial plumage. And it was possible to take in 20,000 Snow Geese in one view, as they flocked around sunset over the tidelands of Port Susan Bay.
A memorable tour all the way around— terrific birds and natural spectacles, wonderful scenery, superb food, and great camaraderie.