Not as extraordinarily improbable as 2013’s year of birds, but 2014 did give Clallam County a very good run. Unquestionably, the bird of the year was the Eurasian hobby discovered in Neah Bay in late October.
That bird brought hundreds of birders to the county over the weeks following its identification, amplifying the Patagonia Picnic Table Effect — a phenomenon which resulted in the next incredible find: the state’s first record of a Lucy’s warbler. The warbler is a drab bird not known outside its normal Southwest haunts.
Two other species rival each other for top-honors in the outrageous category: the white-throated swift and the blue-gray gnatcatcher. The swift, a black and white beast that flies like a miniature falcon on steroids, was seen in early June on Hurricane Ridge. In contrast, the gnatcatcher behaves like a fluff-of-feathers: noisy, boastful and showy in its bluish-gray coat, long black tail and white eye-rings.
These four birds represent new species for the county’s bird list: a list that’s more than 370 species long. But what about the rest of the year when the normal trudge of birds passing through scopes and binocs is reflected on?
Well, let’s take a look-see.
Early 2014
January started with a couple of Harris’ and white-throated sparrows in the Dungeness area. Then barn swallows showed up along 3 Crabs Road. That wasn’t expected (as I write these words on Jan. 15, barn swallows have shown up again in the same area). Rusty blackbirds are, simply put, rare … but one was found near Maple View farm.
Several other goodies found late in 2013 were relocated adding to the growing tally. The Emperor goose, which was No. 300 in 2013, was seen from Knapp Road out at Diamond Point, and the thick-billed murre, found on the Port Angeles CBC, was relocated out in the harbor.
A wayward Bullock’s oriole was coming to feeders above Cline’s Spit.
Over on Kitchen-Dick ponds a canvasback was found, while a glaucous gull was seen hanging with other gulls in a pasture along Woodcock Road.
The first rufous hummingbird, returning along its northward migration route, showed up in late February.
In the early spring
March came in like a lion and it went out like a lion. Such are the quirks of weather along the face of the strait in early spring.
But it also brought the swallows. These marvels of the sky seemed to blossom from the night, pirouetting over the marshes of Dungeness with the dawning sun.
Tree and violet-greens were the first. Then came the barneys and cliffs. Then came rough-winged. Lastly came the purple martins.
Also found was a lone bank swallow, an honorably good bird!
At this time, a unique clique of sparrows was coming to a feeder in Dungeness: a Harris’, a white-throated, white-crowned and golden-crowned. These four species make up the complex of Zonotrichia sparrows found in North America. To have them all showing up at one feeder was truly a birder’s dream.
A running count on humans who came trying to see these four sparrows at the same time was kept while all four sparrows were present. More than 500 birders stood in that driveway, peering into shrubs and watching the feeder. It was a fine showing of fanaticalness!
As March moved into April other goodies appeared. Two snow buntings were found on Ediz Hook. Neah Bay provided three swamp sparrows. Migrating shorebirds were showing up along the strait, including western and least sandpipers, dowitchers, yellowlegs and plovers.
The first Caspian tern was seen along the Wa’atch River at Neah Bay. Turkey vultures were appearing in larger numbers.
But as new birds were arriving, others were beginning to leave after overwintering. By late March, trumpeter swans were down from a high count of around 100 to only a few birds in the Schmuck Road area and a half-dozen in the Wa’atch Valley. This was the same for brant and American wigeon – the thousands that spent the winter on Dungeness Bay were beginning to head north to their breeding grounds.
April saw the return of the usual suspects: multicolored warblers arrived almost to the day as in previous years, flycatchers appeared as if by magic and sulky vireos were heard in their natural haunts.
The Neah Bay osprey pair returned to their nesting site two days earlier than last year. Tufted puffins were seen off Cape Flattery — a sure sign that spring was moving them in from their wintering waters hundreds of miles off the coast.
Tanagers showed up, as did western kingbirds. Hawks were moving north with two species creating a stir of excitement: broad-winged and Swainson’s. Both are rare and were observed from the old Hawk Watch site on Bahokus Mountain in Neah Bay.
Other rarities were discovered, from the Brewer’s and vesper sparrow and yellow-headed blackbird to a lazuli bunting.
Over Dungeness at about 8 p.m. on June 6, three common nighthawks made their return known with songs and an aerial show. What’s astonishing about this sighting is that it’s happened six years in a row, now – almost to the hour!
Late spring and early summer
In a time of nesting, raising broods and taking care of fledged young, late spring and early summer becomes a time of quiet. Yet it’s also when birds begin to move again.
As odd as it sounds, certain shorebirds already are moving back south from their nesting grounds in the Arctic while brown pelicans are moving north along outer coast. And sometimes something comes in so unexpected it melts pencils: 28 white pelicans came into Dungeness Bay in a flurry. It’s a funny mixture of movement.
One of the oddest sightings at this time was that of a female king eider found north of Dungeness Spit. By late July there were at least 17 species of shorebirds being tallied from Dungeness Landing. One was an American golden plover – a Code 4. The gulls weren’t to be outdone by mere shorebirds; at least nine species were beach-combing the shores of the strait and ocean.
The most notable, as always, were California gulls, whose population by late summer reached into the double-digit thousands. Jaegers have become a rare find in the county with only a single parasitic found.
Out in pelagic waters, the county’s tally of species was fair this year. Goodies included south polar skua; red-necked and red phalaropes; Laysan and black-footed albatross; pink-footed, Buller’s, short-tailed, sooty and Manx’s shearwaters; Leach’s and fork-tailed storm-petrels and Sabine’s gull.
Late summer, fall
Events in the bird world can get really exciting in late summer and early fall. A bird’s inner compass may go haywire, storms can cause havoc with migration patterns or mystical events materialize that offer no explanation for why a rarity shows up.
This is what happens as a result: a great egret in La Push, a rock wren near Dungeness, a lesser goldfinch at Neah Bay and a Clark’s nutcracker in Port Angeles.
An American avocet showed up at 3 Crabs. Palm warblers were seen in Neah Bay. A Clark’s grebe was located off Dungeness Landing. And the two black-crowned night-herons (Gale and Windy) returned to Dungeness to overwinter for the sixth year running.
That brings the county to Oct. 26 — the day the Eurasian hobby was found and the onset of one of the most incredible two-week periods of birding in the county in years began.
I won’t delve into the details of that period except to note that an incredible array of species was found, photographed, recorded and just generally watched in bliss by hundreds of birders.
The goodies included Orchard oriole, Bullock’s oriole, cattle egret, slaty-backed gull, brambling, Harris’ sparrow, grasshopper sparrow, Brewer’s sparrow, snow bunting, clay-colored sparrow, Nashville warbler, tropical kingbird, rose-breasted grosbeak, rough-legged hawk, palm warbler, glaucous gull and scrub jay! Unbelievably fantastic! (see Sequim Gazette’s “Our Birds” columns in November and December 2014 for a full accounting).
On to winter
And then it was over. Winter was beginning. Christmas Bird Counts were thought of.
A few more rarities put in brief appearances: a redhead, a Franklin’s gull, pine grosbeaks gave a good showing and a tundra swan flew into Wa’atch Valley along with a herd of trumpeters.
The 284 bird records tallied in 2014 were tucked away. Photos were filed. Recordings were sent off to be archived. Write-ups for those who kept records were written.
And a new Rite-in-Rain notebook, pencil poised waited for one second after midnight, Dec. 31, to start the game all over again.
Reach Denny AFMJ Van Horn at dennyvanhorn@gmail.com.
