Each March our regional birders put on their annual “Wings Over Water: The Northwest Birding festival” at Blaine WA. This event is situated at the US – Canadian border where the Salish Sea including the Strait of Georgia, invites thousands of water birds to feed on their way north. Each year this event (this is #14), brings more activities and sponsors to the festival. This region of Northwest Washington and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia is designated an “Important Birding Area” along the Pacific Flyway used by numerous migrating bird species heading for the arctic. This Birding Festival included several guided field trips on land and on the water, raptor displays, lectures, and demonstrations, arts and crafts fair, and numerous bird viewing sites all around the area staffed by the North Cascades Audubon Society volunteers.
THE DAILY BUCKET IS A REGULAR FEATURE OF THE BACKYARD SCIENCE GROUP. IT IS A PLACE TO NOTE ANY OBSERVATIONS YOU HAVE MADE OF THE WORLD AROUND YOU. INSECTS, WEATHER, METEORITES, CLIMATE, BIRDS AND/OR FLOWERS. ALL ARE WORTHY ADDITIONS TO THE BUCKET. PLEASE LET US KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND YOU IN A COMMENT. INCLUDE, AS CLOSE AS IS COMFORTABLE FOR YOU, WHERE YOU ARE LOCATED. EACH NOTE IS A RECORD THAT WE CAN REFER TO IN THE FUTURE AS WE TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE PATTERNS THAT ARE QUIETLY UNWINDING AROUND US. |
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This year My brother and I took a two hour wildlife cruise from the Semiahmoo Resort aboard the MV Salish Sea that left from the resort marina and cruised around Drayton Harbor, Semiahmoo Bay, and Boundary Bay at the US-Canadian Border.
Although chilly with a heavy cloud cover and about 13 kt. breeze, it was a good trip for this time of year. The birds seemed relatively plentiful but by all reports, they were hugely down from the thousands compared with years past. Even though there were plenty of birds, they always seemed to be diving, swimming, or flying away as the boat approached. (lots of butt shots). Anyway, here are a few of the winged critters that I saw. Some were difficult to ID from the blurry photos so I hope readers will help out and correct any that I might have mislabeled.
Eagles are always around waiting for someone else to bring them some food.
Scoters:
Scoters were probably the most abundant of the diving ducks that we encountered. Although I got a good side shot of the scoter on the wing in the title photo, most were seen from more distance and some of them in rafts, often along with other species.
Long-tailed Ducks
Surprising to me was large number of Long-tailed Ducks (formerly, Old Squaw). These, and some other species were undergoing their complex seasonal changes and I believe that I captured some in various stages of change. Our guide pointed out that in this transition phase, some of the Long-taileds would have lost their long tail feathers and indeed that was true.
According to “All About Birds” the Long-tails are a bit odd:
Unlike most ducks, which molt twice per year, the Long-tailed Duck has three distinct plumages each year, achieved in a complex series of overlapping partial molts. The Definitive Basic Plumage is never worn in its entirety, as portions of Alternate are retained through the summer and elements of the Supplemental are acquired before all of Basic Plumage is obtained. Therefore change in plumage seems continuous from April to October.
Unlike other waterfowl, the Long-tailed Duck wears its "breeding" or Alternate Plumage only in the winter. It gets its "nonbreeding" or Basic Plumage in the spring and wears it for the breeding season. Most other ducks wear the nonbreeding plumage only for a short period in the late summer.
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Loons
Loons were also relatively abundant and I believe they too were changing so it was somewhat difficult for me to definitively discriminate among the species. Common Loons were fairly clear but we were told that there were Pacific, Arctic, and Red Throated Loons present as well.
I think the loon below is an Arctic Loon, but I am not sure.
More help please?
The main exhibit area for the festival had a rapter display put on by the Rapter Rescue folks. This year they had a couple of owls:
The only Shore Bird I saw was this Plover.
Now it is your turn. What are you seeing in and around your back yard? Please share your observations, birds or otherwise.
"SPOTLIGHT ON GREEN NEWS & VIEWS" IS POSTED EVERY SATURDAY AT 5:00 PM PACIFIC TIME AND WEDNESDAY AT 3:30 ON THE DAILY KOS FRONT PAGE. IT'S A GREAT WAY TO CATCH UP ON DIARIES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED. BE SURE TO RECOMMEND AND COMMENT IN THE DIARY. |