October Pierce County Big Day

in #birding5 years ago

HOME_2708 male at De Coursey Park.JPG
Male Hooded Merganser Lophodytes cucullatus

This year Bruce Labar and I have been spending one day each month trying to see as many species of birds at we can find in Pierce County, WA. In the birding vernacular we call it a "Big Day" when we decide in advance to challenge ourselves to trying to find the most species we can in a specified area in a 24-hour calendar day. Our efforts have been modest, and each month we try to have a pleasant day of birding, targeting areas in Pierce County we know should provide the opportunity to accumulate a good list, but have not generally made it a balls-to-the-wall all out effort.

GADW_2702 male.JPG
Male Gadwall Anas strepera

Yesterday we did our October 2018 Big Day. We started at the Demolay Spit on Fox Island where we watched dawn break and tried primarily for water birds on the Puget Sound. Our best finds there were a group of Pacific Loons, the only Common Murre of the day, and Bonaparte's Gull, but the Harlequin Ducks and Long-tailed Ducks that typically winter there had not returned yet.

![WCSP_2640.JPG](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZgXKQcHccdw2Qsmk n5kB8RPs6xGxrd9ahiiDtSV9ajrR/WCSP_2640.JPG)
White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leukophris on blackberry bushes.

From there we returned to the Tacoma side of the Narrows Bridge and made a quick stop at the park pond at Titlow in hopes an Eurasian Wigeon would be with the American Wigeon there, and sure enough one was found. Then we made a quick stop at the Puget Sound Wilderness Area off Phillip's Drive to see Woodduck, and on to Ft. Steilacom Park. The pond there had only a few ducks, but we managed Ring-necked Duck, Gadwall, Pied-billed Grebe, and a Common Raven flew over the hillside, and we got glimpses of the only two Yellow-rumped Warblers of the day as we walked back to the car.

MALL_2680 male.JPG
Male Mallard Anas platyrhynchos

We stopped at Sunnyside Beach next and added Rhinoceros Auklet (at least 100 seen), but nothing new was at the mouth of Chamber's Creek or at the fish ladder upstream.

HOME_2711.JPG
Young or female Hooded Merganser

Nest we headed to Puyallup, and the 56th Street Stormwater Ponds. This is a changing landscape, as a big housing development is going into the big fields beside the ponds, but we managed to walk back to the area beside what is usually the third pond. It has rained so hard recently that the water levels were so high that it looked like just one big pond! Still, it was maybe our most exciting stop of the day. On the pond was the Eared Grebe that has been there for over a week, as well as the usual Ruddy Ducks. As I bemoaned the lack of mud where Greater Yellowlegs had been seen, and that no Killdeer were around, we scanned the edges of the pond carefully. I first spotted an American Bittern posing on the far shore by the reeds. Then Bruce found a late-season Green Heron also on the far shore.

SNGO_2671 near Levee Pond, Puyallup. .JPG
Snow Geese near Levee Pond Chen caerulescens

On our walk out of the ponds we took time to scan for the expected Eurasian Collared Dove in trees in the distance. While we scanned Bruce found a perched Peregrine Falcon, and we added a Red-tailed Hawk to our list. On the way back to the car I heard American Pipits flying behind the pond, but we never could locate them. On the drive to Levee Pond we spotted a flock of 18 Snow Geese in the field across from the dirt road park entrance. These were the first of 3 sightings of Snow Goose for the day. We later had 10 in Orting, and one with a huge flock of Cackling Geese at 134th St. In Puyallup.

We headed next to the Orting Valley in hopes of sparrows, raptors, and some upland birds. We had no luck with Lesser Goldfinch at the usual site on Riverside Drive, Sumner. Pretty much the same story at 178th St, another place for LEGO, but we did add Purple Finch there.

At the Orting Farm Loops we pretty much struck out. Usually I find large flocks of blackbirds there, but not any today. We had American Kestrel several times today, but none on this loop where they are usually dependable all year round. The driveway to the cemetery up the hill was blocked for road repairs so my area for coniferous forest birds like Chestnut-backed Chickadee and Golden-crowned Kinglet was inaccessible and we didn't make an effort to recover these species later.

CACG_2682 part of huge flock at 134th St Puyallup.JPG
A tiny fraction of a flock of maybe 3000+ Cackling Geese Branta hutchinsii over 134th St.

Stops at 134th Street off Pioneer Way in Puyallup yielded zero shorebirds, but as we left a huge flock of Cackling Geese took flight and delighted us. A single Snow Goose was on the bottom part of the flock. At Decoursey Park I managed some photos as the sun finally came out, but no new species. At the WSU Experimental Forest Clark's Creek area we added our only Northern Shovelers of the day.

We finished the day at the Gog-li-hi-ti wetlands in the Tacoma Tide Flats area. Gulls were not in abundance and we found no unusual gulls there, but did add Killdeer, Bewick's wren, March Wren and called it a day at the gentlemanly hour of 5:15 PM. Only birding from 7 AM to 5 PM seemed like it's an exageration to say it was a big-day but that's what we are calling it anyway.

We totaled 78 species, 95 miles and 10 hours 15 minutes of effort.

Good birding. Steem on!

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That's a great day of birding! Lovely shots, resteemed :)

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