The Beginnings of Fall Birding
Summer tends to be my slowest time for both birding and photography. The light is harsh and has lots of glare, and after spring migration, the birds settle in, raise their chicks, and not a whole lot happens, so unless you’re really motivated to go out and chase species you’ve missed that are hanging around, there’s not a lot of interesting things going on to bird for a while.
Then you start noticing shorebirds: sandpipers are the first fall migrators, and they will start to show up in the reports — one here, another there. And then for me, inevitably, I go outside, notice the light, and think to myself “it’s almost fall”. And then I start thinking about birding again.
That’s been the last couple of weeks for me. I’ve been able to get out a couple of times, once to the Seabeck eagle area (but no eagles, but lots of Herons), and then I went to explore a couple of potential winter birding routes, one through Mason County, one through Jefferson. Both have potential, but both are likely to have more or less the same species, and so I’ll probably be putting more effort into the Jefferson county areas since it’s less driving with more places to bird.
Here at the house, it seems the nesting is done, and some birds, like the Tanagers have left. So have the Robins. The large number of Junco chicks are slowly moulting into adult-ish plumages, but some of them, frankly, keep triggering my “House Sparrow” sensor. Baby birds invariably look weird, and can drive you crazy if you don’t slow down and think it through.
I have, in the last couple of outings, added three new birds to my year list: Barn Swallow, Red-Necked Grebe and Black Oystercatcher. The first two of those I really should have seen and tagged by now, but sometimes that happens. The oystercatcher was out with a flock of gulls barely visible in the distance, and was the only shorebird I saw when I went out searching for them them other day.
I’m now watching the rare birds and need reports more closely again, after taking a couple of months more or less off, and trying to get out at least once a week. Getting back into the swing of things, getting back and knocking the rust off the camera skills. Ridgefield NWR already has the first Sandhill Cranes, and I’m trying to convince myself to make that long day trip sooner rather than wait for a longer overnight trip in November. But I also think there are going to be things to keep me busy closer as well, and I should focus on that…
I’m really looking forward to fall. For shorebirds, it’s now here and migration is starting. But for me, and the birds in general, it’s on its way and I’m more than ready for it.
