Wild Fidalgo

Snowfall is not a common occurrence in the Puget Sound lowlands.  If we get any, it usually comes between late November and early January.  Sometimes we don't even get frost until late December or January.  Other parts of the US have been clobbered by repeated waves of heavy snowfall this winter.  In the Pacific Northwest, we have tried to keep a low profile, hoping to escape La Niña 's attention. When February arrived, we thought we had staved off any chance of snow for the winter, but no such luck.  On February 23, 2011 a Pacific low positioned itself off the coast in a perfect location to draw Arctic air down the Fraser Valley into Puget Sound.  At the same time, it pushed moisture from the ocean into western Washington.  This was a recipe for heavy snowfall and it came very quickly.  For a time, 30 miles of Interstate 5 was shut down in Skagit County north of Seattle where drivers where overwhelmed by the volume of snow.  Up to 14 in...

Double-crested Cormorants ( Phalacrocorax auritus ) Heart Lake is another area in the Anacortes Community Forest Lands .  Recall our visit to Whistle Lake in December.  A network of trails takes hikers through undeveloped forest.  Heart Lake also has Cormorants, perhaps in greater numbers than Whistle Lake.  Cormorants will stretch their wings to dry them after diving for fish.  We also spotted Common Mergansers ( Mergus merganser ) and Buffleheads ( Bucephala albeola ) on the lake.  The lighting of this overcast day, however, made it difficult to photograph birds out in the water. On arrival at the parking area, we were greeted by the woodwind tones of Common Ravens ( Corvus corax ).  Raven is regarded as The Creator by local Native Americans in stories that remarkably parallel those in the Bible.  Along the trail, a Pileated Woodpecker ( Dryocopus pileatus ) called from off in the woods.  The sights, sounds and smells of the Heart L...

Golden-crowned Sparrow (upper right) with Spotted Towhee It's always fun to catch a "first-timer" in a BirdCam photo.  This past weekend it was a Golden-crowned Sparrow ( Zonotrichia atricapilla ) that debuted at the BirdCam station.  South Fidalgo is part of their winter range which extends from northern Baja, up the Pacific coast through Vancouver and Graham Islands in British Columbia.  They breed in the subalpine interior of British Columbia, and through the southern Yukon into most of Alaska.  Even during winter, they are rarely seen on South Fidalgo in my experience.  This makes these photos even more pleasing.  Their cousins, the White-crowned Sparrows are more common here. Golden-crowned Sparrow (top left)  This fellow has some streaking on the breast which would indicate a juvenile.  In the breeding season, the golden crown would be surrounded by a distinctive black cap for both male and female.  According to iBird, a group o...

Double-crested Cormorants ( Phalacrocorax auritus ) "The meeting will come to order.  We have a guest speaker today.  Seagull will talk about anchor buoy hazards in Skagit Bay."

Spotted Towhee Female ( Pipilo maculatus ) In the same family as Sparrows and Juncos, Towhees are the largest birds of the group.  The Spotted Towhee ( Pipilo maculatus ) is our western Washington representative.  The bird originally called the Rufous-sided Towhee was divided into Eastern Towhee ( P. erythrophthalmus ) and the Spotted Towhee.  White spotted markings on the wings distinguish the latter.  Our local oreganus race shows the least white spotting among regional groups.  Draw a line from the western border of Minnesota south to roughly define the territories of the two species.  Both Easterns and Spotteds may have the unusual fiery red eyes.  Spotted Towhee Male with House Sparrow  They are midway in size between Sparrows and Robbins.  Male Spotted Towhees have black markings and females dark brown.  Pronounce their name TOE-hee or TOE-ee.  These are very congenial citizens around the feeders that never use their size...

Male and Female Dark-eyed Junco ( Junco hyemalis ) Like the swallows to Capistrano and buzzards to Hinckley , the Juncos return to South Fidalgo every fall.  This event adds another chime to our seasonal clock.  The Dark-eyed Junco ( Junco hyemalis ) has always been one of my favorite birds.  They are not flashy or brightly colored.  Nevertheless, their tasteful, muted tones gives us one of our most attractive little birds.  Ours are the "Oregon" variant with a black hood for males and gray hood for females.  Take a pair of these charming birds, add a snowy holly branch, and you have a perfect Christmas card image. In other parts of North America, your Dark-eyed Juncos may look completely different.  Depending on region, they also come in "Slate-colored," "Pink-sided," "White-winged," "Red-backed" and "Gray-headed" variants.  At the moment, they are all considered the same species, an indication they possess a high ge...

Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker  Since November, the Northern Flickers ( Colaptes auratus ) visiting the BirdCam station have all appeared to be of the "Yellow-shafted" morph.  The bird above clearly has yellow-shafted tail feathers, gray crown and tan cheeks.  The problem has been the lack of a red nape chevron also characteristic of the Yellow-shafteds.  Hmmm. Some references put Yellow-shafted birds in the East and Red-shafteds in the West with hybrids found in the Great Plains or Rocky Mountains.  This is obviously too simplistic.  More complete sources indicate that the Yellows are found in the eastern U.S., western Canada and Alaska.  No doubt, we benefit here from our proximity to western Canada.  We are only 30 miles/48 km due east of Victoria, B.C., and about 50 miles/80 km south of Vancouver. Red-shafted Northern Flicker Male Beginning New Year's Day, Red-shafted Northern Flickers started to visit the station.  This bird ...