The Pacific Northwest: An Introductory Birding Tour Jul 23—27, 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
Mid-July is a great time to take in the natural beauty of Washington's tremendously scenic Olympic Peninsula. The high meadows of the snow-capped Olympic Mountains are carpeted in wildflowers, and are set off by deep-blue saltwater bays and dark-green conifer forests. It's also an excellent time to search out the region's diverse birdlife: from puffins and oystercatchers to grouse, dippers, warblers, and endangered murrelets—definitely an eye-catching array of birds to brighten a five-day tour.
Our group met mid-afternoon at the Seattle airport, then headed to the rural south Puget Sound region. Here we birded the upper reaches of Scatter Creek, before enjoying a wonderful first dinner at leader Bob Sundstrom's home in the country, while taking in lots of bird activity in Bob and Sally's extensive gardens. Purple Finches and Black-headed Grosbeaks competed for space at the feeders, as Rufous Hummingbirds sped back and forth among the flowers. Wilson's and MacGillivray's warblers popped up near the bird baths, as Western Scrub-Jays and Cedar Waxwings glided back and forth among the serviceberry shrubs.
On Day 2, after another morning of birding in the same vicinity, we left for the Olympic Peninsula with more excellent birds already under our belts: close views of Red-breasted Sapsucker and Western Tanager, wonderful looks at Virginia Rail and Wilson's Snipe, both Pacific-slope and Willow flycatchers, Cassin's and Hutton's vireos, and handsome Black-throated Gray Warblers. We drove north along the lengthy fjord known as Hood Canal, and before long turned up a couple of American Dippers as they splashed in and out of the rushing Dosewallips River. Near the mouth of Discovery Bay, we hit a bonanza of seabirds. A walk down a pebble beach brought us views of rotund Pigeon Guillemots and heavy-billed Rhinoceros Auklets, and one much anticipated and fully plumed Tufted Puffin. On the way to dinner that evening we made a quick stop along Sequim Bay, and came upon a spectacular breeding plumaged Pacific Loon idling close to shore. The elegant loon, which stayed close by for incredible spotting scope views, is a species that winters in the area, but was a first for this summer tour.
On the morning of Day 3, after a gourmet breakfast in Port Angeles, we drove into Olympic National Park and up the winding road toward the heights of Hurricane Ridge, a mile above the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Dozens of species of wildflowers graced the roadside meadows: white avalanche lilies blooming just after snowmelt; slender white bog orchids; bright yellow monkeyflowers and wallflowers; blue larkspurs, lupines, and penstemons; red and magenta paintbrushes; and the endemic Piper's Harebell which grows out of cracks in the mountains' steep rock faces—an amazing concentration of form and color that reaches its peak here in mid-July. Varied Thrushes called from a thicket of subalpine firs, American Pipits flitted over alpine meadows, and an endemic Olympic marmot munched on the verdant ground cover. We watched a huge black bear at a safe distance through the spotting scope, just after a scaly-breasted young Townsend's Solitaire perched nearby. The mountain vistas and views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the distance were magnificent. A family of Gray Jays flew in to attend our picnic, overlooking a mountain meadow at over 5,000 feet. Later that same day and back at sea level, we birded the shoreline near Port Angeles, where a couple of dozen Harlequin Ducks swam and dove nearby, and Black Oystercatchers shared a floating perch with harbor seals and red-billed Heermann's Gulls. After a fine dinner on the waterfront in Sequim, we enjoyed close views of endangered Marbled Murrelets.
On the final full day of the tour, we returned to the Dosewallips River valley, where we came upon a hen Sooty Grouse with three chicks as they nibbled the roadside vegetation just a few meters from the van. A mountain drive nearby gave us our first Hermit Warbler of the tour. We picnicked along the saltwater shore at Fort Flagler, to the sound of whistling Pigeon Guillemots and rasping Caspian Terns. Then, as much for the fun of it as the potential birds, we rode the ferry back and forth from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island, enjoying the salt air and thousands of Rhinoceros Auklets—sprinkled with a handful of Common Murres. Back in Port Townsend, there was time to explore the city on foot and enjoy another wonderful restaurant.
The next morning, after breakfast and a visit to the tideflats to watch shorebirds, we ferried back across Puget Sound toward Seattle, for flights home from a fondly remembered trip.