November notes

We are bird watchers, ever curious. But have you ever wondered whether birds are also curious about we humans and engage, from time to time, in people watching? 

My travel to work takes me through the Nisqually Valley, no doubt accounting for the many times I mention it. Halloween is over and the valley pumpkin patch, so busy last week, is quiet again. On Monday, I watched as the farmer, taking advantage of the dry weather, was rototilling the patch and smashing its unsold remains. Were the birds also watching? 

Cackling geese at Nisqually.

George Walter | The JOLT

My answer came early Tuesday morning as some 3,000 cackling geese were gathered in a huge flock on the recently tilled field. And, hanging out with them, there was one lone snow goose and several white-fronted geese. As I watched, additional flocks of 20 to 40 geese were joining the feeding frenzy. 

Gulls at Nisqually.

George Walter | The JOLT

Not to be outdone, a fairly large flock of gulls of mixed species was also feeding nearby on bare ground (from a distance I first thought they were snow geese). It was a busy morning in these Nisqually fields and in front of the gulls were the usual Nisqually Interstate 5 Exit Rock Doves (city pigeons to most of us), also exploring the tilled fields.  

At another location, in addition to the usual starlings, there were perhaps 100 mourning doves, feeding on the recently tilled ground, and then perching on the wires. There probably were Eurasian collared-doves too, but all the ones I looked over were mourning doves.  

Now we have an answer — yes, they are definitely watching us. 

A short-eared owl.

Liam Hutcheson | For The JOLT

Short-eared owl

It has been several years since a wintering short-eared owl has visited Thurston County, but that may be changing. Earlier this week, a single short-eared was seen and photographed at the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. It may have moved on, as it was not found by the Wednesday Walk group yesterday. But there’s hope. 

These owls are widespread across the globe, commonly breeding the arctic and sub-arctic of both hemispheres. In years when their primary summer prey, lemmings, are common they will have very successful breeding seasons and fledge more young than usual. Consequently, the following winter more birds will be seen, and often further south, including in Western Washington. This might be one of those years. 

Liam’s photograph shows this species key identifying features, a medium-sized owl, heavily streaked with brown, with a facial disk and yellow iris. Often their short ear tufts are not visible. These owls hunt in daylight hours, flying over open territory seeking their rodent prey.  

Because of their daytime hunting habits, birders often see these birds arcing over grasslands exercising their mothlike on-the-wing hunting technique. It’s difficult to describe this unique flight pattern, but this video clip might help. It is from the Pacific Northwest and shows the short-eared owl’s hunting flight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRKw-OQ3HPo   

Tropical kingbirds 

I confess, one of the reasons I wanted to write about this unusual late fall visiting species is because I think Liam’s photo of these birds is wonderful. 

A pair of tropical kingbirds in flight.

Liam Hutcheson | For The JOLT

Kingbirds are large flycatching birds. Tropical kingbirds, as their common name suggests, have their normal territory in the tropics of Central America and South America. But every fall, for unknown reasons, some number of them migrate north along the Pacific Coast. Liam’s photo was taken several years ago at Neah Bay, in Washington’s northwest corner. This year several tropical kingbirds have been found in Washington, including one at Neah Bay and another in King County, so it’s worth being on the lookout.  

They look very similar to western kingbirds, a summer resident in Washington that is found sparsely in Thurston County. You can distinguish them from westerns easily by their bold white throat and because they lack white outer tail feathers, a readily visible identification marker for westerns (and, of course, because the westerns have all gone south long ago).   

Brown pelicans

Last week, I suggested that the few brown pelicans that were frequenting the waters of the Port of Olympia have departed. But I was wrong. Earlier this week, they were seen multiple times resting on the old pilings near the north end of the port.  

Meet the writer

I will be giving a presentation next week at the monthly meeting of the South Sound Bird Alliance (formerly the Black Hills Audubon Society). My talk is about this Thurston’s Birds column and, the best part, it will be illustrated with many of Liam’s best bird photographs.

The event is Thursday, Nov. 12, at Temple Beth Hatfiloh, 201 8th Ave. SE in Olympia. Social time starts at 6:30 p.m., and the program at 7 p.m.m. Maybe I’ll see you there. 

George Walter is environmental program manager at the Nisqually Indian Tribe’s natural resources department; he also has a 45+ year interest in bird watching. He may be reached at george@theJOLTnews.com 

Photos for this column are provided by Liam Hutcheson, a talented 19-year-old Olympia area birder and avid photographer. Liam is now off to college in Arcata, California, but he still is making his photographs available to The JOLT.