8/26/2024 Pelagic Trip (link to here)
westbound from the 50 fathom line L+
area north of Grays Canyon L+
eastbound from Grays Canyon L+
Laysan Albatross (from 2022), Westport offshore
Short-tailed Albatross, Westport offshore
Bruce, Liam, Bill and me, Westport bar
Waiting for the fog to clear, Westport bar
Crossing the bar, Westport bar
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, Westport offshore
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels, Westport offshore
Wilson's and Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels, Westport offshore
Pink-footed Shearwaters, Westport offshore
Buller's Shearwater, Westport offshore
Pink-footed Shearwaters, Westport offshore
Laysan Albatross, Westport offshore
Red and Red-necked Phalaropes, Westport offshore
Scripps's Murrelet, Westport offshore
Short-tailed Albatross with Pink-footed Shearwaters
Short-tailed Albatross with Pink-footed Shearwaters
Short-tailed Albatross, Westport offshore
Brown-headed Cowbird, Westport offshore
Tufted Puffin
Adult Common Murre with young, Westport bar
Delia and Ed, Westport offshore
Carrying me off the boat, Westport Marina
The Fortunate Few, Westport Marina
9/12/2024 Emails (link to here)
I wrote two emails today. It took me three hours.
I wrote two emails today. It took me three hours.
In other news, we have been tracking weather forecasts and migration statistics for the Columbia
Basin in an attempt to time our visit to Washtucna to coincide with a fallout of migrants.
Migration numbers so far this month have been lower than normal and I suspect that may be due to the
weather. The wind for the past week has been mostly out of the south, a headwind for southbound
birds which may be discouraging them from taking flight. They won't wait forever for favorable
weather so we anticipate a big flight in response to a change in the wind sometime in the next few
days.
Along the coast that big flight happened last night +. It appears that the wind shifted to the northwest during the night prompting much larger migration than on the previous several nights. On the east side of the mountains though, the winds remained southerly and the numbers of migrating birds ranged from 50% of normal along the northern tier + of counties to only 10% of normal in the southeast +. Weather systems move across the state from west to east so we are hoping that what happened along the coast last night will happened over Washtucna tonight.
Along the coast that big flight happened last night +. It appears that the wind shifted to the northwest during the night prompting much larger migration than on the previous several nights. On the east side of the mountains though, the winds remained southerly and the numbers of migrating birds ranged from 50% of normal along the northern tier + of counties to only 10% of normal in the southeast +. Weather systems move across the state from west to east so we are hoping that what happened along the coast last night will happened over Washtucna tonight.
9/15/2024 Walla Walla (link to here)
The flight over Adams county + was indeed big; at 2.7 million birds it was the third largest flight of the past four years. Excited by the prospect of a busy day at Bassett Park, we left David and Kasey to fend for themselves for breakfast and pulled out of the driveway at 5:35 AM headed for Washtucna. The bush was full of birds when we arrived at 8:30 so Darchelle wheeled me over and parked me in front of it but the activity died down quickly and never picked up again. RJ dropped by around 10 to report that he had never seen so many birds at Hooper as he had that morning, adding to the mystery of the Washtucna big day that wasn't. Giving up on Washtucna we drove down to Lyon's Ferry where I sat in the car and counted juncos flying between the fruit trees while Darchelle searched for vagrants in the thickets along the shore. I came up with 51 and she came up with a thrush which she was unable to turn into an Ovenbird.
We spent Sabbath with Darchelle's folks in Walla Walla, not even slightly tempted to chase birds after our disappointing experience on Friday though I did do checklists on both Friday afternoon L+ and Saturday afternoon L+ while sitting outside visiting with Richard and Donna. The flyover Nighthawks on Friday and Wood Ducks on Saturday both stumped me at first but Darchelle was able to get binoculars on them to confirm the wing pattern on the former and the face pattern on the latter.
On our way home this afternoon we stopped at McNary NWR to look for a Long-tailed Jaeger which had been discovered at the headquarters ponds this morning. While Darchelle was scoping distant ducks in the marshy cove where the Jaeger had been reported half an hour earlier I spotted a dark brown gull flying erratically out over the open water and tried to follow it, suspecting it might be the bird. Shortly after I lost it Darchelle found it again and confirmed that it was a Jaeger by the white patches at the base of the primaries. Whether or not it was a Long-tailed is still being debated by those with greater knowledge and better photos.
The flight over Adams county + was indeed big; at 2.7 million birds it was the third largest flight of the past four years. Excited by the prospect of a busy day at Bassett Park, we left David and Kasey to fend for themselves for breakfast and pulled out of the driveway at 5:35 AM headed for Washtucna. The bush was full of birds when we arrived at 8:30 so Darchelle wheeled me over and parked me in front of it but the activity died down quickly and never picked up again. RJ dropped by around 10 to report that he had never seen so many birds at Hooper as he had that morning, adding to the mystery of the Washtucna big day that wasn't. Giving up on Washtucna we drove down to Lyon's Ferry where I sat in the car and counted juncos flying between the fruit trees while Darchelle searched for vagrants in the thickets along the shore. I came up with 51 and she came up with a thrush which she was unable to turn into an Ovenbird.
We spent Sabbath with Darchelle's folks in Walla Walla, not even slightly tempted to chase birds after our disappointing experience on Friday though I did do checklists on both Friday afternoon L+ and Saturday afternoon L+ while sitting outside visiting with Richard and Donna. The flyover Nighthawks on Friday and Wood Ducks on Saturday both stumped me at first but Darchelle was able to get binoculars on them to confirm the wing pattern on the former and the face pattern on the latter.
On our way home this afternoon we stopped at McNary NWR to look for a Long-tailed Jaeger which had been discovered at the headquarters ponds this morning. While Darchelle was scoping distant ducks in the marshy cove where the Jaeger had been reported half an hour earlier I spotted a dark brown gull flying erratically out over the open water and tried to follow it, suspecting it might be the bird. Shortly after I lost it Darchelle found it again and confirmed that it was a Jaeger by the white patches at the base of the primaries. Whether or not it was a Long-tailed is still being debated by those with greater knowledge and better photos.