Birding the Pacific Northwest Coast

Brooding seas, turquoise waves, dark spruces, raindrops on maple leaves, dripping ferns, and incredible ancient rainforests filled with more birds and unique shades of green than even seem possible...  

Welcome to the Pacific Northwest!  

Join us for the second part in a series on our recent adventures in Oregon and Washington!

Part I: Seabird Colony at Haystack Rock
Part III: Inland Valleys & Lowland Forests
Part IV: Olympic National Park
Part V: North Cascades National Park
Part VI: Mount Rainier National Park
Part VII: Crater Lake National Park



After our puffin triumph at Cannon Beach, we headed north up the coast to the mouth of the Columbia River to explore the region made famous by the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-06.  For birds, nature and hiking (as well as history), I recommend visiting Fort Clatsop and Fort Stevens, south of the Columbia River, and Cape Disappointment on the north side.  (The Lewis and Clark interpretive center at Cape Disappointment is excellent - and a great place to take refuge on a stormy morning.)  

Common Loon


At Fort Stevens, we watched the river mouth for a while (during intermittent showers).  While Pelagic Cormorants were the most abundant species nesting at Haystack Rock, in the brackish water of the river mouth, Double-crested Cormorants were more common.  We also spotted a few Common Loons and Caspian Terns.  And, of course, plenty of gulls.

Caspian Tern

After leaving the Columbia River and Cape Disappointment, (in a torrential downpour) we followed highway 101 up the coast of Washington to Olympic National Park.  This was my third trip to Olympic National Park, which is quite possibly my favorite of all the national parks I've visited.  

Olympic National Park


We made a stop along the coast near Olympic National Park's Kalaloch campground to search for the "mythical" Northwestern Crow.  This bird is essentially identical in appearance to the American Crow, but differs in voice, habitat and feeding habits, preferring to forage along beaches and in tide pools.  We found a crow matching this description, and it went down in the books as a Northwestern Crow, which eBird still accepts as a distinct species.  Last year, however, it was demoted to merely a subspecies of the American Crow by the American Ornithological Society. 

My presumed Northwestern Crow (which I guess is not even technically a species anymore...)  It went on eBird as a NOCR, because of its behavior foraging along the beach, in the swash zone and tide pools.  Pretty weak evidence, I guess, but there it is! 


We had another round of successful seabirding in Port Angeles, Washington, where we ventured out onto a man-made spit of land, known as the Ediz Hook, which protects the harbor.  Any means of getting closer to seabirds without actually boarding a boat and leaving dry land is a win in my book!  

We were afforded excellent looks at a flock of Harlequin Ducks - mostly males in their brilliant plumage.

Harlequin Duck


Their gentle appearance belies the rough-and-tumble lifestyle of these hardy sea ducks, which spend most of their lives on whitewater rivers and wave-dashed coasts.  Doubtless these ducks are able to exploit otherwise underutilized habitat edges, but their chosen niche is not without its dangers.  According to Cornell's All About Birds, Harlequin Ducks sustain more broken bones than any other bird species, and x-rays of live birds and museum specimens have revealed that most adults live out their lives with multiple healed fractures.

We first encountered these magnificent ducks bobbing in the surf and loafing on the rocks at the base of Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach, Oregon.  I was delighted to see a flock floating along near shore on the placid water of the Port Angeles harbor.

Harlequin Ducks!


Farther out in the harbor, beyond the ducks, I spotted another curious bird: the Rhinoceros Auklet!  While these nifty relatives of puffins are regularly spotted closer to home off the coast at Point Pinos in Monterey, this was my first look at this seabird.  Like others of its tribe, the Rhinoceros Auklet spends its life at sea, coming to shore only to nest.

Rhinoceros Auklet


Later in the day, while on a ferry to Whidbey Island, we spotted a large flock of Rhinos paddling on the Puget Sound.

Flock of Rhinoceros Auklets


Also from the Ediz Hook, I spotted another target bird for the area, Marbled Murrelets!  These amazing little auks spend their lives off shore on cold northern seas, coming to land only to nest.  And they nest and raise their young in a rather unlikely spot.  

Marbled Murrelet


Unlike other alcids, which nest largely in burrows and on rocky sea cliffs, Marbled Murrelets nest high on the mossy branches of coastal conifers, like spruce and, in California, Coast Redwoods.  So peculiar is this nesting habit for a member of this family, the first Marbled Murrelet nest wasn't discovered until the 1970's!



A quick word about gulls...

Along the Oregon coast, black-winged, dark-mantled Western Gulls are the most common species encountered.


Farther north, in Washington, the most common species at this time of year is the Glaucous-winged Gull.  


Port Angeles harbor, from the Ediz Hook

Comments

Post a Comment

You Might Also Like:

Birds of the Desert: Residents & Spring Migrants

Image
Nearly everyone knows the desert as a barren, desolate land of extremes: high heat, low precipitation; little available food and water; prickly, spiny, unfriendly plants growing in a sea of rocks and sand as far as the eye can see.  But for those who stop and look closer, the desert reveals itself as the beautiful, incredible, mesmerizing place it truly is, teeming with unexpected life. Juvenile male Costa's Hummingbird visiting chuparosa blooms next to our campsite in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. I particularly love the desert in the spring, when the annual wildflowers, cacti, flowering trees and shrubs are all in bloom.  (I've experienced the desert in the searing 120 degree heat of summer, and the rainy, even snowy cold of winter... and spring wins every time!)  Eric and I just returned from a week in the Colorado desert, exploring the imperiled, accidental Salton Sea (more on that coming soon), the vital wetlands of the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refu
Read more

A Shorebird Primer: Godwits, Curlews, Willets and Whimbrels

Image
For those of us living in the Great Central Valley, autumn is the time to head to the coast.  Of course, there is no bad time to visit California's magnificent coastline.  But as the heat and haze of summer drag on in the Valley, the sea becomes increasingly tantalizing: September and the onset of autumn bring sunny weather and an abundance of migratory seabirds and shorebirds to our coast. A new birder visiting California's Central Coast will undoubtedly be met with a splendid array of very confusing birds.  Among these are small shorebirds like  "peeps" (sandpipers), Sanderlings and various  plovers .  But the larger birds can be just as confusing, until you learn a few distinguishing features.  Four large shorebirds that are commonly seen (and commonly confused) along California's Central Coast are Godwits, Curlews, Willets and Whimbrels. Marbled Godwit (upper left), Whimbrel (upper right), Long-billed Curlew (center front) The distinguishing featu
Read more

Birding in Adverse Weather Conditions: Wind and Rain

Image
Though I often extol the virtues and merits of winter in the Central Valley , especially when it comes to birding, the whole truth is that we experience "bad" weather also, just like anywhere else.  But even when the winter weather rolls in, the birds are still out there!  And sometimes, despite our best planning efforts, a birding day happens to coincide with crummy weather.   In that case, what's a birder to do?  Usually, we go birding anyway!   Birders far more intrepid than I regularly brave the ice and snow of northern winters to see their favorite birds, so perhaps you should look to them for real tips on winter birding!  For those of us in the valleys of California, the worst weather we see - wind and rain - is really comparatively mild.  Birding on an extremely windy day! I don't know of anyone who actually likes birding in the rain.  But I would argue that birding in the wind is just as aggravating as trying to bird in the rain!   Wind can be utterly infuri
Read more

Winter Gulls: The Great I.D. Challenge

Image
Gulls are a fun challenge for birders, from beginners to experts.  A few things make gulls an interesting study: they are large and conspicuous in their open habitats, so they are easy to see, easy to put a scope on, and easy to watch and study for long periods of time.  Furthermore, gulls are almost always identifiable as gulls; none of this confusing warbler/vireo/kinglet nonsense! And yet, gulls are almost impossibly difficult!  (Though perhaps not nearly as difficult as Empidonax flycatchers!) An intimidating scene to many a birder: a mixed flock of gulls.  I see five different species of gull here. Oh, and one American Coot in the background. One of the reasons they are so complicated is most gull species take two or three years to achieve adult plumage, and go through multiple molts in a year.  So, you may be looking at three or four gulls together that look like four completely different species, when they are actually just different ages (individuals in their first, s
Read more

Joshua Tree Woodlands: A Tale of Sloths, Moths and the Trees that Need Them

Image
In 1844, early California explorer John C. Fremont gave a somewhat scathing review of Joshua trees when he wrote, "...their stiff and ungraceful form makes them to the traveler the most repulsive tree in the vegetable kingdom."  Rather unkind, don't you think?  But when Joshua trees were formally described by scientist William Trelease in the 1890's, he noted that Joshua Trees are "the most attractive of all the Yuccas."  I am inclined to agree with this sentiment, and must disagree most heartily with Lieutenant Fremont! I, for one, adore Joshua Trees, with their whimsical shapes and great ecological significance!  If you struggle with plant identification, the iconic Joshua tree, hallmark of the Mojave Desert, is a good place to start.  With densely spiked tufts protruding from the ends of gangly arms stretched towards the heavens, this looks like a plant straight from a Dr. Seuss book.  Native people called these trees “humwichawa,” and used thei
Read more

What's Wrong With This Tree?

Image
If you've spent any time in an oak woodland (and I sincerely hope that you have!!) you may have noticed something odd: strange growths on the branches and leaves of oak trees.  You might wonder if the trees are sick or diseased, or plagued with a dangerous pest. But not to worry; these fascinating growths are a normal part of a healthy oak community.  Spined Turban Gall on Valley Oak, with a bonus gall: the tiny orange sphere to the left of the larger gall might be a gall of the California Jumping Gall Wasp (inconclusive) These growths are in fact galls, and are caused by a variety of cynipid wasps.  Galls form when a wasp lays eggs in a plant's tissue, releasing chemicals which stimulate the plant to use its own tissue to form protective structures around the eggs.  As the insect larvae develops, it feeds on plant tissue from within its cozy gall home.  Galls form on a variety of plants, including alders, poplars, willows and even sagebrush.  But the best known and m
Read more