Tropical Birding Washington Birding with a Camera July 10th - July 19th, 2020 Washington State: Birding with a Camera® Tour Leader: Ben Knoot Pigeon Guillemot - Photo by guest Jen *This was Tropical Birding’s first “COVID-19 Tour”. Due to this and a few other personal reasons, I (Ben Knoot) did not take too many photos on this tour. Most of the trip report photos come from the guests. www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Washington Birding with a Camera July 10th - July 19th, 2020 Introduction Washington was our first COVID-19 tour of the year and if I could sum it up in on word? It would be “successful”. There were several adaptive measures that needed to be taken but in the end, the tour was smooth and we were able to see a lot of our target species and get a lot of great photos, especially some of the specialty breeding species found in the PNW. This wonderful 9- day tour is split between the lush, green and vibrant western half and the dry, hot, breeding bird filled east. We take care to move slowly through each habitat, seeing as much as we can. We began the tour with a trip west to the Olympic Peninsula. Our first job was to cross the water via two ferry crossings. We then spent several days exploring this truly amazing place. The peninsula is home to Olympic National Park which contains some of the last 7% of old growth forest in the U.S. We visited the stunning Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park and all of the birding hotspots the peninsula had to offer. Highlights from this portion of the tour included: Pigeon Guillemot, Marbled Murrelet, Belted Kingfisher, Barred Owl, Harlequin Duck, Sooty Grouse and mesmerizing waterfalls wild flower meadows. After a few days on the peninsula we left for the east. This day long excursion across the beautiful cascades had us stopping at some key stops along our route. Highlights along our route included; Golden-crowned Kinglet, Pacific Wren, American Pika, Hoary Marmot, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Red-eyed Vireo and the stunning Diablo Lake. Now in the east, our target birds have completely altered. We are now targeting perfectly plumaged breeding song birds and waterfowl. The dry hills are broken by areas of perfect riparian habitat that host a slew of breeders from woodpeckers to ducks and even down to small Calliope Hummingbirds. Our time in the northeast then moved into the dry Okanogan for yet more breeders. Here, the small lakes and stunning forests captivated our binoculars and our cameras. Highlights of the northeast were; Common Loon, Williamson’s Sapsucker, Black- backed Woodpecker, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Lazuli Bunting, Ruddy Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Prairie Falcon, Spotted Towhee, Mountain Chickadee, Black-headed Grosbeak and Western Tanager. The last portion of the tour traveled south and then west. The southwest portion of the state is even drier and hotter than the rest. This of course means different birds and different habitats. Dry ponderosa pine, isolated lakes and oak woodlands hosted a ton of new species for us. Our highlights for our last portion of the tour included; White-headed Woodpecker, Western Grebe, Black-crowned Night Heron, Pygmy Nuthatch, Gray Flycatcher, Long-eared Owl, Burrowing Owl, Sage Thrasher, Western Bluebird, Wilson’s Phalarope, Brewers, Vesper, Lark and Grasshopper Sparrow. We then traveled back to Seattle for our last dinner, final checklist and goodbyes. www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Washington Birding with a Camera July 10th - July 19th, 2020 Top Five Birds 1. Marbled Murrelet 2. Varied Thrush 3. Black-backed Woodpecker 4. Lazuli Bunting 5. White-headed Woodpecker Top Three Photographic Opportunities 1. Pigeon Guillemots Nesting 2. Bubbling Ruddy Duck Display 3. Lazuli Bunting/Spotted Towhee Photo Shoot Top Three Other Animal 1. American Pika 2. Hoary Marmot 3. American Black Bear www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Washington Birding with a Camera July 10th - July 19th, 2020 Itinerary July 10th Day 1: Arrival Day (Introductory Dinner) July 11th Day 2: Mainland WA to Olympic Peninsula/Sequim July 12th Day 2: Port Angeles Area/Dungeness to Hurricane Ridge July 13th Day 3: Olympic NP/Sol Duc Falls to Port Angeles Area July 14th Day 4: Olympic Peninsula to Winthrop July 15th Day 5: Winthrop Hotspots July 16th Day 6: Okanogan Region July 17th Day 7: Winthrop to Moses Lake July 18th Day 8: Moses Lake Hotspots July 19th Day 9: Moses Lake to Seattle via Vantage to Departure www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Washington Birding with a Camera July 10th - July 19th, 2020 Tour Summary Day-to-Day Day One (July 11th) - The group arrived in Seattle and after a personal pick up in our very own van to prevent any unknown contamination possibilities, the group was transferred to our lovely first nights hotel; the Cedarbrook Lodge. The group met later that evening for a nice dinner, an introduction to the tour and to receive their checklist. We also went over some of the new COVID-19 policies that we would be implementing during the tour. Day Two (July 12th) - Today we began very early. Our plan was to catch a reserved ferry over to the Olympic Peninsula. I had originally reserved a time to have a smooth crossing with good light for possible photos and good alcid viewing opportunities. After a quick coffee stop, we arrived at our first ferry crossing in Kingston. And here came the first COVID-19 adaption necessity. Unfortunately, I did not account for fewer ferries operating at this crossing so we ended up taking a later ferry than I had intended, putting our main ferry crossing in jeopardy. We birded around Mukilteo Lighthouse Park. Here we got our first looks at Marbled Murrelet, Pigeon Guillemot, Rhinoceros Auklet, Glaucous-winged Gull, California Gull, House Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow and Great Blue Heron. Mukilteo Lighthouse Park - Photo by guest Alex www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Washington Birding with a Camera July 10th - July 19th, 2020 From the ferry we saw more of the same as we saw from the park but added a fun little Gray Seal. We arrived on Whidbey Island and we were definitely running late for the ferry but I knew we could make it if we got lucky with lights and traffic. So, we pushed on and arrived at the Coupeville Ferry Terminal just literally a minute too late. As we arrived the standby guests had just filled the ferry…bummer…HOWEVER, we were in luck. I parked the car in line and I took everyone out to the jetty where we were delighted to find a dozen or so nesting Pigeon Guillemots and we had an excellent photoshoot. We also added Pelagic and Cormorant Double- crested Cormorant, Harlequin Duck, Savannah Sparrow, Barn Swallow, Bald Eagle, Canada Goose and Red-winged Blackbird. So, COVID-19 struck but could not break us. We then boarded the ferry and prepared for a big target search. Rhinoceros Auklet - Photo by guide Ben www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Washington Birding with a Camera July 10th - July 19th, 2020 One of the big possibilities on this ferry crossing is Tufted Puffin. Unfortunately, strong winds and relatively high waves made visibility difficult during the crossing and we were unable to find the puffin, but we were able to try our photography luck with more of the same alcids we saw earlier. Of course, no guide at Tropical Birding Tours gives up easily. So, when we landed on the peninsula, I took the group to Diamond Point Overlook, a known viewing spot for Tufted Puffin just off of their breeding grounds of Protection Island. Unfortunately, we struck out again so instead, we birded the nearby pond. Highlights here included; Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Tree Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Northern Pintail, Mallard, Canada Goose, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Purple Martin, Anna’s Hummingbird, House Finch and Spotted Towhee. A fun non-bird highlight was a mother Black-tailed Deer who brought her fawn down to the pond to splash around and bath. Lots of fun. Black-tailed Deer with Mallards and Chicks - Photo by guest Jen www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Washington Birding with a Camera July 10th - July 19th, 2020 After this nice stop, we checked another small pond named Pitship Pocket Estuary where a family of Belted Kingfisher were hanging around after a successful nesting season. We then checked into our hotel, grabbed a quick bite to eat and went off to our main location for the afternoon; Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. Majestic mountains, stunning fields of wild flowers and epic views greeted us on the way up the mountain. Scenic View (Hurricane Ridge) - Photo by guest Alex Further up the road, we ran into one of our main targets, the Sooty Grouse. We got really lucky and actually ran into a female with her chicks! It was a very cool sighting. Sooty Grouse and Chicks - Photo by guest Alex www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Washington Birding with a Camera July 10th - July 19th, 2020 Feeling quite good at this point, we continued towards the visitor center of Hurricane Ridge to locate a few more of our target birds. We were able to add; Olive-sided Flycatcher, Yellow- rumped Warbler (Audubon’s), Dark-eyed Junco, Canada Jay, Northern Flicker, American Black Bear and Olympic Marmot.