The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), is a four-day global event that occurs annually each February. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon Society, and Birds Canada sponsor it. Think of it as a very small scale version of The Big Year. You birders know what that is. The goal of the GBBC is:
Each February, for four days, the world comes together for the love of birds. Over these four days we invite people to spend time in their favorite places watching and counting as many birds as they can find and reporting them to us. These observations help scientists better understand global bird populations before one of their annual migrations.
For the record, I am not a serious birder. I don’t keep a life list. I barely keep a “to do” list. I use eBird sporadically. But, I’m a little competitive and I like to have fun. To make the GBBC fun and competitive, I set out with a goal to make it into the top 10 in number of species counted in my county, which is Snohomish County, Washington. The fun part was developing a strategy to accomplish the goal by selecting sites with previous high species counts, visiting a variety of habitats, and revising my strategy as each day progressed.
To manage the count I used eBird. By using eBird, I could view my Snohomish County GBBC count in real time and compare it to other participants in my county as the weekend progressed.
Let’s get started.
Day 1 — Friday, February 17 — Edmonds
The day began at home here in Edmonds with watching the birds at the feeder and around the yard. I watched in the morning and again later in the day when I returned. Home is on the edge of a county park of 120 acres of typical lowland western Washington forest, second growth about 100 plus years old, so it’s quite a mature forest of mainly western hemlock, western redcedar, Douglas fir, bigleaf maple, and red alder. So we get good variety of birds at the feeder: birds that like the woods (e.g. four woodpecker species) and birds that are more comfortable with the openness of a neighborhood (Spotted Towhees, Song Sparrows, Juncos). It’s really an edge habitat where we are.
Friday is also take my Mom to lunch day and this Friday was no different. The upside is that I always take my Mom (who’s 93) to the Edmonds Waterfront Center, which as the name implies, is right on the Edmonds waterfront, one of the hottest of birding hotspots. The food is pretty good, too. They have a senior lunch option for which I qualify. I still can’t believe that. You can pay whatever you want for the senior lunch but they indicate that the cost to prepare is $15. So, I pay $15. Did I say the food was good?
When I have lunch at the Waterfront Center, I always bring a pair of compact binoculars. From our table I managed a count of 7 species while eating lunch.
After lunch, I walked out onto the Edmonds Fishing Pier and then strolled the entire length of the waterfront from the pier to Brackett’s Landing and back. These next two photos show the pier and the waterfront on a nice day, not the same day as the GBBC, which was gray and gloomy.
No surprises at the pier, just the usual birds this time of year. The great thing about the pier is that it gives you closer view of seabirds. You’re in the middle of their habitat. Here’s a couple of the birds from the pier that were counted on my GBBC.
In the little park by the ferry dock I ran into a young guy with a camera. The park has lots of low shrubbery, perfect for sparrow stuff. The guy pointed out a few sparrows dancing in the underbrush. They were White-crowned Sparrows happily foraging on the ground under the shrubs. I chatted with the guy for awhile. The older I get, the more chit chatty I get.
After the waterfront I walked over to the Edmonds Marsh. It’s a short walk. The marsh is never that good for me. The birds are always too far away. And it started to rain. I stood under a tree for a short time until the tree no longer offered much shelter. As I was leaving, a woman with an umbrella pointed out some Cedar Waxwings dining on cotoneaster berries. I would’ve totally missed them if it hadn’t been for this kind birder person.
I headed home after the marsh. There was still daylight left, so I took the dogs out for a walk, still keeping tabs on the birds.
Day 1 yielded 30 species, 11 at home and the remaining 19 at the waterfront and marsh. Not a bad start. Also, five checklists:
- Home (Forest Edge): 11 species
- Edmonds Waterfront (incidental, at lunch): 7 species
- Edmonds Waterfront (1.4 miles): 15 species
- Edmonds Marsh: 6 species
- Talbot Park (2.6 mile dog walk): 3 species
Day 2 — Saturday, February 18 — Lower Stilliguamish Valley, Eide Road/Leque Island, Ebey Waterfront
I had definitely planned the first part of this day. The plan was to slowly drive down the lower Stilliguamish Valley from Interstate 5 to Stanwood, taking side roads, making stops. The lower Stilliguamish Valley is one of my favorite places for birding and bicycling. The other planned stop was Eide Road/Leque Island. No set plans after that other than evaluate my remaining time and work my way back to Interstate 5, checking hotspots along the way. But as always, the day started with observations at home and ending the day that way.
It was drizzling heavy as I exited Interstate 5 to follow Pioneer Highway down the valley. Taking one of several side roads, I came to Hazel Blue Acres blueberry farm, a place to return to when blueberries ripen later in the season. Getting back to the main road, there was a tree full of winter Robins. I counted 30 but there were probably more than that. I saw tons more Robins as I drove down the valley.
The real catch of the day were Bald Eagles by the bucket load, adults and juveniles. They were perched in the trees, standing on the ground, a few flying around. I took a few photos out my car window to avoid spooking them and to keep my camera and myself dry.
Driving farther along Norman Road, I came across concentrated flocks of gulls, numbering probably in the hundreds. Most were Short-billed Gulls with a few Ring-billed Gulls and fewer Glaucous-winged Gulls.
And then there were the Trumpeter Swans, pretty much the highlight of the day.
One good catch that I had planned on finding were Common Mergansers on the Stilliguamish River. I found a good pullout, climbed over a guardrail and found a good view of the river. Sure enough, a pair of Mergansers came floating down the river.
My tour of the lower Stilliguamish Valley was completed when I reached the town of Stanwood. It was about lunchtime so I kept going down the road to Camano Island a short way. There’s a popular bakery there where I picked up an almond croissant and a chai latte with oat beverage. Don’t @ me!
Next stop was heading back over to the mainland to walk Eide Road and Leque Island. When I pulled into the little gravel parking lot, there was only one other car there, and they were leaving. The tide was out exposing acres and acres of mudflats. There were thousands of Dunlin poking the mud. There were large numbers of Green-winged Teal that would be better called Mud Duck because that’s where I usually see them. I didn’t get any bird pictures. It was drizzling still. I did want to get a picture of the thousands of Dunlin, but by the time I decided to take a picture, the tide came in and covered the mudflats causing the Dunlin to all disperse. Here’s a photo so you can see what the area looked like.
The day wasn’t over yet. I made an attempt to visit the Stanwood wastewater treatment ponds but I couldn’t find a way to access them. It’s a hotspot on eBird so it was a bit frustrating. Next I stopped at Tulalip Bay on the Tulalip Reservation. But I couldn’t find a way to get out on the marina docks or walk the shoreline. Sign said tribe members only. My 1% native American DNA probably wouldn’t count. Frustrated I headed over to Marysville to walk Ebey Slough. There is a nice paved trail there that follows Ebey Slough and goes past the Marysville wastewater treatment ponds.
When I got to Ebey Slough, the drizzle started again. I hunkered under a highway bridge for a short time thinking how much this place sucked and how I wasn’t going to find any birds. I pulled the rain cover over my camera bag and my rain jacket hood over my head and started walking along the trail. Then I spotted a Cooper’s Hawk in a small tree, kind of inside the branches the way Cooper’s Hawks do. The drizzle stopped and skies started to clear a little. I thought maybe this place will be okay after all.
When I got to the Marysville wastewater treatment ponds, they were covered with thousands of Lesser Scaups and a few token other ducks like Ring-necked Ducks, Northern Shovelers, Gadwall, Ruddy Ducks, etc.
As I walked the trail farther, I saw more birds, and this dude on a kayak paddling along the slough. The tide was ebbing so he had an easy time going with the current.
As the kayaker got closer to me, he pulled over to the shore and we chatted for a short time. We were talking Bald Eagles and as soon as we said that, here comes a Bald Eagle flying by.
So, Ebey Slough was the wrap up to a very good Day 2.
- Home (Forest Edge): 10 species
- Lower Stilliguamish Valley — Silvana (5.9 miles driving): 3 species
- Lower Stilliguamish Valley — Norman Rd (12.4 miles driving): 14 species
- Leque Island/Eide Rd (1.0 mile walking): 11 species
- Ebey Waterfront Trail (2.4 miles walking): 23 species !!!
Day 3 — Sunday, February 19 — Lynnwood/Edmonds
Day 3 started like the previous two days, on and off drizzle. I decided to tackle some additional local spots and maybe fill some gaps in my count. I started at Sprague’s Pond, which is a great spot for wintering waterfowl even though it’s surrounded by residential and commercial properties. I needed a Hooded Merganser and I knew I’d find them at Sprague’s Pond.
After Sprague’s Pond, I went over to nearby Scriber Lake, which is a little more woodsy. I then hit Chase Lake, a favorite of mine but a little disappointing on this day. I followed up with Pine Ridge Park, a near mature forest with a small pond — super disappointing. After that, I finished up along the Edmonds shoreline — Water Street, Edmonds Waterfront, Marina Beach, and Edmonds Marsh. I didn’t add much to my tally on Day 3.
Day 3 wrap-up.
- Home (Forest Edge): 11 species
- Sprague’s Pond (short walk): 10 species
- Scriber Lake (0.6 miles walking): 5 species
- Chase Lake (0.4 mile walking): 3 species
- Pine Ridge Park (0.85 miles walking): 1 species — 8 Mallards on the pond 😠
- Water Street (short walk): 4 species
- Edmonds Waterfront (1.0 mile walk): 9 species
- Marina Beach (short walk): 1 species
- Edmonds Marsh (1.1 mile walk): 3 species
Day 4 — Monday, February 20 — Edmonds
By Day 4, I think I was burning out. I reviewed my tally and looked at other hotspot checklists to see where I could fill in some gaps. It wasn’t worth driving very far, so I again focused on my local area. I drove down to Haines Wharf, which I often walk to since it’s only a little over a mile from my house. I knew there could be House Finches there, which I needed. There were a couple dudes there who had just walked up from Meadowdale Beach Park. We chatted for awhile. They pointed to bird perched on one of the tall pilings down at the wharf that they thought was a hawk. We could see yellow legs with the naked eye. Could it be a Peregrine Falcon? Survey said … yes! Confirmed once I had my binoculars on it. That Falcon was the bonus bird for the entire weekend.
After Haines Wharf, I repeated the Edmonds Fishing Pier and the Marsh. Same old, same old. But I watched this guy land a 10 pound Chinook on the pier.
Day 4 wrap-up.
- Home (Forest Edge): 9 species
- Haines Wharf (short walk): 6 species
- Edmonds Fishing Pier (0.5 miles walking): 10 species
- Edmonds Marsh (0.4 mile walk): 10 species
Summary
I reached my goal by placing in the top 10 for species counted in Snohomish County over the course of the 4-day GBBC. I placed 6th, but by a technicality that two people were tied for 5th, that put me in 7th. I counted 59 species. Not bad for a rank amateur. The folks at the top are regular and known birders here. I had by far more checklists than anyone else: 22 checklists. Did that help? I’m not sure.
Here are the rankings:
Now here’s the disappointment. The day after the GBBC, I was walking out to get the mail when I spot a Hermit Thrush. Later a Common Raven flies overhead. The whole weekend, I never saw a Downy Woodpecker at the feeder. They’re always at the suet feeder! So, a Downy Woodpecker shows up at the suet feeder the day after the GBBC. Just those three birds would have put me solidly in 5th with 62 species.
So, what is the takeaway? Lessons learned? Maybe I shouldn’t move around so much, maybe spend more time at each location? Maybe find my “sit spot”? I’ll think it over and look to next year.
What is going on in everyone else’s bird world?
The Dawn Chorus is now open for your birdy reports of the week.