Liam’s Big Year 2023 – Update

George Walter

Photo by Jill Severn

Readers have asked me for an update on Liam’s 2023 Big Year accomplishments. Here it is, including some more of the many photos he has shared with us. (Liam is, as you may know, this column’s 16-year-old photographer, who is already making a name for himself for expertise in both photography and spotting rare birds.)

In birding, a “Big Year” is a birder’s concentrated effort to see as many bird species as possible within a defined area and within one calendar year. A typical scope for a Big Year is your home state, although I suppose one could have a backyard Big Year.

Last year Liam’s Washington species total was 361 and this year he has already surpassed that number, with 367 species to date. In case you are wondering, the official highest Washington Big Year count is 375 species, held by three separate persons. Liam just might exceed that number this year.

Spotting that many species in one year depends on luck, but of course luck depends on preparation, persistence, skill and knowledge.

Earlier this year I wrote about two rare bird visitors that Liam documented. On January 2nd, the first was the Common Crane that stayed around the Chehalis River valley for several months, pleasing birders who came from as far away as Maine to see it. The second was the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher that wandered into Ocean Shores, which Liam documented so wonderfully.

All year Liam has visited the many unique habitat areas of our state, as well as the nearby Pacific Ocean, seeking out all the expected regular bird species. In addition, he spends weekends looking for vagrant birds that have strayed into Washington on their way to who-knows-where.

Painted Bunting (female) - a rare bird in Washington

This past weekend found Liam and a birding friend at Cape Disappointment, in Washington’s extreme southwest corner. There he located a very rare bird, a female Painted Bunting, hunting around in the bushes near the boat launch. What luck? Not really. Once again, it’s preparation: going to a good potential area for vagrants, persistence – doing this over and over, weekend after weekend, skill and knowledge. Many casual bird watchers might not have paid any attention to an odd-looking finch-like bird in the shrubbery and, more importantly, would not have recognized it as a rare bird.

Another corner that Liam likes to frequent is Neah Bay, the state’s extreme northwest corner. Liam and his team, primarily his mother, Elizabeth McManus, have made this trek many times and found multiple unexpected bird species.

Tropical Kingbird - occasionally seen along the coast in autumn

In June he found a Yellow Throated Vireo; visits in September yielded a Magnolia Warbler, Tropical Kingbird, Chestnut-sided Warbler and Palm Warbler. It will not surprise you to learn that Liam will be making additional visits to Neah Bay between now and December 31^st.

Black and White Warbler - a vagrant to our area

When I asked Liam about a few highlights for his year, he mentioned several visits to Eastern Washington, and particularly to the Walla Walla area. There he added Tennessee Warbler and Canada Warbler to his year list, and nearby a Black and White Warbler. It was on one of the trips east that he encountered a Blue Headed Vireo. This is a particularly difficult bird to identify but, with his description and many photos, Liam is confident that this record will be accepted by the Washington Rare Bird Records Committee.

Blue Headed Vireo - Rare species - found in the eastern U.S.

One of the more difficult birding trips Liam made this year was to the Harts Pass area in the North Cascades. He and his birding partner spent long hours searching for a Boreal Owl and finally, just as they were getting exhausted, one answered their calls. Another species for the year list.

Pygmy Owl - a fairly common resident, but tough to find

However, it’s not all about chasing rare vagrant birds for Liam. As he told me, “Something I enjoy as much as anything else is all the other birds I encounter while searching for rarities. Just the other day I ran across a Pygmy Owl, perched out in the open. Just that bird alone made the day worthwhile.”

Nazca Booby - extremely rare vagrant, never before seen in Puget Sound

Nazca Booby - extremely rare vagrant, never before seen in Puget Sound

If you think that rare birds occur only in the state’s remote corners, I’ve got news. This week there is an extremely rare bird, a Nazca Booby, flying around southern Puget Sound. This is a very large seabird (almost goose-sized), that feeds by diving for fish. At a distance it might look vaguely like a very large gull with dark wings and a white body. It has a long, pointed orange bill, long neck, long slender wings and a pointed tail (see Liam’s photos). Overall, it looks like it could efficiently soar the seven seas, which is exactly what it’s meant to do.

This seabird species breeds in the Galapagos Islands and sometimes ranges north to waters off Southern California. And yet, as of a few days ago, we now have Nazca Booby on our Thurston County bird list.

George Walter is environmental program manager at the Nisqually Indian Tribe’s natural resources department; he also has a 40+ year interest in bird watching. He may be reached at george@theJOLTnews.com

Photos for this column are provided by Liam Hutcheson, a talented 16-year-old Olympia area birder and avid photographer.