We were never going to pretend that this leg of our epic Central and North America trip was going to be a comprehensive tour of the Pacific Northwest; that would probably take months to do properly. But we would dabble here and there: fly into Seattle, explore a few parks and places around there, head down to Tacoma where the renowned Billy Frank Jr Nisqually NWR awaited, then work our way up towards Dungeness and Port Angeles, ferry it across to Victoria, Canada for some touristy activities mixed in with some birding, then finally one more ferry to Vancouver and fly directly home to Brisbane from there.
Seattle
Flying into Seattle, particularly after recently been in Arizona and Nevada, you notice two things. One is the dominant snowy cap of Mt Rainier which dares you to ignore it, and the other is how green it all is.
Our main birding focus in the area was hoping that some of the geese and ducks had been a bit lazy and hadn’t already departed north for the summer, but seeing all the greenery gave us hope for some great forest encounters as well. We visited Seattle Japanese Garden where we discovered a Golden-Crowned Kinglet busy nest building. In the Washington Park Arboretum we were alerted to a Barred Owl by a very vocal Stellar’s Jay. We watched many a gull along with the antics of several seals at the Ballard Locks before exploring Discovery Park. Carkeek Park offered some distant views of many sea birds as well as the opportunity to cross a rail bridge while some trains were passing underneath!
The closer you get to Canada, the more Canada Geese you see. This little cutie pie is a gosling (its parents were not far away!)A continuously screeching Stellar’s Jay alerted us to the presence of this magnificent Barred Owl in Washington Park Arboretum, a gorgeous parklands in SeattleThe Ballard Locks in Seattle apparently “carry more boat traffic than any other lock in the U.S” and attract more than one million visitors annually. Well, it seemed pretty quiet of people when we were there. We had a great time watching the Glaucous-Winged Gulls hunting/scavenging with the seals in the churning waters; there is also a Great Blue Heron rookery there too.An American Robin leaving no doubt as to who is the neighbourhood’s premier hunterA curious wee Bushtit in suburban bushlandA super-adorable Black-Capped Chickadee in Seattle’s Discovery ParkA Song Sparrow singing its little heart out at Discovery ParkThe western edge of Discovery Park culminates in West Point Lighthouse, a good spot to watch water birds, like these red-legged Pigeon GuillemotsThis Dark-Eyed Junco at Discovery Park is a juvenile, with a lot more streaking than the adult birdAnother Song Sparrow at Discovery ParkThe Brown Creeper is quite a small bird and can be hard to photograph because it circles up around tree trunks quite quicklyA Spotted Towhee in the early morning sun (the sun rises here at 5:30am!) at Carkeek ParkAt Carkeek Park, a bit north of Discovery Park, there is a long shingle beach where you have great views across Puget Sound; the day we were there featured several small groups of Surf ScotersThe male Common Goldeneye swimming quite close to shore at Carkeek Park (the female was nearby)Wonderful temperate forest vibes at Carkeek ParkWe found this Northern Flicker at Green Lake, a large and popular suburban lake in northern SeattleSquirrel looks…. uncertain.
Tacoma
The big birding drawcard near Tacoma, just south of Seattle, is the excellent Billy Frank Jr Nisqually National Wildlife Reserve. The site of many different types of terrain, it attracts a wide variety of birds. We walked all the way to the end of the extra-long boardwalk and were treated to some great views of a Bald Eagle. And lots of gulls. So many gulls…. it was quite cold but an easy place to pass several hours.
Mt Rainier dominates the skyline as seen from Point Ruston, in TacomaA White-Crowned Sparrow in TacomaThe excellently constructed mile-long boardwalk at Billy Frank Jr Nisqually NWRThis Bald Eagle had a favourite perch – the little roofed shelter you can see in the middle of the above photo – and it wasn’t going to budge for anyone! Several people walked underneath the bird and were treated to its imperious stare. A Barn Swallow faces into the wind at Billy Frank Jr Nisqually NWRNorthern Pintails taking flight from the large wetland section of Billy Frank Jr Nisqually NWRSometimes birds that are named “Common” something turn out to be anything but… however this Common Yellowthroat fits the moniker pretty wellWe were overjoyed to finally encounter a Red-Breasted Sapsucker, after looking for quite a while. This one hung around in front of us for a minute or two, long enough to really appreciate the bird (and get video!)
Dungeness and Port Angeles
We kept heading north up around the Puget Sound coastline, making a very worthwhile stop at the intriguingly-named Point No Point, and then west onto Dungeness NWR and its enormously long sand spit. Unfortunately, a very windy and cold day caused our trek out to the lighthouse at the end of the spit to be cut short, but the forest part of Dungeness NWR delivered some new sightings for us.
Before boarding the ferry to Victoria BC we explored Ediz Hook in Port Angeles – very similar looking on the map to the Dungeness spit but with a quite different and more industrial vibe; we could drive out on it this time so spent it productively looking for more sea birds.
A Rhinoceros Auklet keeping company with a Glaucous-Winged Gull. Lifer Alert! At Point No Point.Locals probably barely bat an eyelid at these seabirds – Pacific Loons in this case – but to us they were super-exotic! At Point No Point.We finally got eyes onto the elusive Pacific Wren in the forests of Dungeness NWR, after hearing it in the undergrowth several timesThe start of the epic sand spit at Dungeness NWRAn immature Bald Eagle flies by overhead!We had hardly dared to hope for a sighting of Harlequin Ducks… but were lucky at Ediz Hook in Port Angeles. They were sedately floating and diving on the water until scattered away by a certain Eagle of Baldness.
Victoria, BC
Victoria, in British Columbia, Canada, has some truly beautiful gardens and parks, in fact – no disrespect to the USA – the vibe of the whole place is pretty darned wonderful. We did still have a few birdy targets – after dipping several times on Purple Finch we finally laid eyes on one in Uplands Park. Yessir, the Purple Finch was starting to become a true nemesis bird, as we’d heard it at four or five previous locations but had not yet managed to see one. Our other lifer bird in Victoria was almost an accident – a Golden-Crowned Sparrow just happened to briefly hop by while we were having a snack in the gardens of Hatley Castle. We’ll take it!
The introduced Grey Squirrel comes in various colours, including jet-black. At Beacon Hill Park in Victoria.An American Wigeon was the lone non-Mallard/non-Canada Goose waterfowl that we could find in the pretty little ponds at Beacon Hill Park in VictoriaEsquimalt Lagoon sits just south of Hatley Castle and seems like a pretty good place to find interesting water birds.A Great Blue Heron at Esquimalt Lagoon with the Catch of the Day!Belted Kingfisher on a little island at Esquimalt LagoonThe Black Oystercatcher looks just like the Sooty Oystercatcher from back home in Australia, except its eyes are much yellowerI don’t usually mind taking photos of birds on artificial structures too much – after all, that’s the reality these days with birds also living in human habitats – but I will admit that the metal and wire surroundings of this American Goldfinch aren’t much to get excited by.We hadn’t seen a Brewer’s Blackbird since, oh I dunno, somewhere near the Grand Canyon, so it was cool to see one again at Esquimalt LagoonA Golden-Crowned Sparrow pops by to say hello in the grounds of Hatley CastleWe did take some photos of birds at the famed Butchart Gardens, but they weren’t much cop. Here’s an interesting lizard from there instead.One of the gorgeous garden views at Butchart GardensAt last! A good and proper Purple Finch sighting. At Uplands Park in the east of Victoria.Uplands Park was chocka block full of Chipping Sparrows, with their little machine-gun calls heard continuouslyGlaucous-Winged Gulls gettin jiggy at Cattle Point, on the edge of Uplands ParkWe watched in awe as a dozen or so Brown-Headed Cowbirds proceeded to strip this huge tree of all little green grubs (this took them a good fifteen minutes or more!)
Vancouver
Vancouver was out lucky last locale for our trip before flying home (direct, on a 14-hour flight to Brisbane!), and a lot of it was spent wandering around the harbour waterfront and the enormous Stanley Park.
One of several Bonaparte’s Gulls seen from the ferry between Vancouver Island and VancouverA Tree Swallow resting on the edge of the Lost Lagoon at Stanley ParkThe Common Merganser brings the phrase “cartoon duck” to my mindA Common Merganser female fluffs up her head feathersA dainty Wilson’s Warbler with its distinctive black cap, at Stanley ParkA group of Violet-Green Swallows was zipping and swooping around in the morning sun at Stanley Park so I took the opportunity for some birds-in-flight photography practiceOne of the three types of cormorant you can see in the Vancouver area – a Pelagic Cormorant (the others are Brandt’s Cormorant and Double-Crested Cormorant.All around the coastline of Stanley Park the Glaucous-Winged Gulls were finding seastars in the lower tides and finding ways to chomp and eventually chug them down their throats. It was kinda painful to watch, to be honest.I had no good photos of the plucky Stellar’s Jay until Stanley Park, so…. hooray!An Anna’s Hummingbird at Stanley Park kept coming back to the same little perch… so I kept taking its photo.It would be fair to say that since we first laid eyes on Wood Ducks in North America, we have been unhealthily obsessed with them; we had a couple of awesome close encounters with them at Stanley Park.
Summary
One of the big highlights in terms of birding experiences from the Pacific Northwest was spotting cool seabirds, both from shore and from ferries. Surf Scoter, Pigeon Guillemot, Pacific and Common Loon, Rhinoceros Auklet – the list of exotic species goes on and on. We weren’t really there at the right time of year for most of those sorts of birds, as the winter months are typically better… so that gives us an excuse to go back again at a different time of year.
The other highlight worth mentioning is the serenity of birding in the tall, peaceful forests that blanket the region. Even places like Point Defiance, on the edge of busy Tacoma, was an oasis where you could surround yourself in nature and soak in the beauty of the conifers. In springtime the gardens like Washington Park Arboretum and Butchart Gardens were blooming and colourful – just nice places to be.
Some stats, for those inclined to enjoy stats!
Most numerous birds: Canada Goose, Mallard, Glaucous-Winged Gull, American Crow
Bird Spots 
As usual, an excellent report on your birding trip. Great photos. I enjoyed it greatly. Cheers, Rod
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