Thinking About Birds

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USA visit, June-July 2026

Margaret and I flew to Seattle on 15 June, to spend a month in Washington state (we were Seattle-based, with many brief excursions to elsewhere within the state). The trip was mainly for a family reunion, but I managed to squeeze in some birding opportunities from time to time. The blog below is just about the birding; I saw 83 species overall.

16 June

My first full day in Seattle and I walked to Gasworks Park, mainly for the exercise but I took my binoculars and camera just in case. On my way there, I found Black-capped Chickadees and Dark-eyed Juncos - both species turned out to be very common everywhere I went during the four-week visit. The Song Sparrows were vocal and there were several Barn Swallows around. An Osprey flew over, and later a pair of Bald Eagles (I had many more sightings of this species at anywhere coastal). There was a large flock of Canada Geese, including many goslings of varying ages. I noticed a different bird on the fringe of the flock - it was a Greater White-fronted Goose. I was quizzed about it by the eBird moderator as it is an out-of-season record (they breed in the Arctic); fortunately I had photos.

20 June

I went to Discovery Park, on the north-western side of Seattle, to join a Birds Connect Seattle guided walk that went for about 3 hours. There were about 30 people (most were complete beginners and/or out-of-towners) plus three guides (Neil, Ed, Kathy). We found about 30 species, the majority of which were new for me. My lifers included Spotted Towhee, Savannah Sparrow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper and American Goldfinch. Other good birds included White-crowned Sparrow and Cedar Waxwing.

21 June

I joined another Birds Connect Seattle guided walk, this time at the Washington Arboretum. Again, there were about 30 tyros, plus two leaders (Kathy from yesterday, and Cynthia). It didn’t seem quite so birdy as yesterday but that was because the abundance was down a bit, and actually I saw 25 species for the 2h walk. The three new ones for me were Chipping Sparrow, Tree Swallow and Downy Woodpecker. There were also some Pileated Woodpeckers, which I’d previously seen in Costa Rica but never before in the USA. We found two Bushtit nests, probably with young in them as adults were making frequent visits.

27 June

We left Seattle early morning and drove south, to the Billy Frank Jr Nisqually Reserve, near Olympia. There I joined a guided bird walk, which was a great experience. I saw about 40 species, at least half of which were lifers for me - including Bullock’s Oriole, Brown-headed Cowbird, Rufous Hummingbird, Hooded Merganser, Western Wood-Pewee, Northern Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Tree Swallow and Cliff Swallow. Three species had nests - Rufous Hummingbird, Western Wood-Pewee, Tree Swallow - plus some of the Wood Ducks and Hooded Mergansers had youngsters. We had great views from time to time of some Swainson’s Thrushes, also of a Red-tailed Hawk which for a while was in a tree being dive-bombed by American Crows and then it flew over us for a while. After lunch we drove up into the mountains near Mt Rainier, staying near Packwood, where Common Ravens were the local corvid.

28 June

I went into the Mt Rainier National Park area in the morning with Robyn & Nick. On the walking trail to the Silver Falls I found several Pacific Wrens (vocal, small, and quite hard to see), but not much else. I did better on the other side of the trail, walking through Box Canyon alongside the Ohanapecosh River. I had fantastic views of an American Dipper fishing in the river, also many Vaux’s Swifts were zooming around. We went back there late afternoon, where a Swainson’s Thrush put in an appearance, plus many Vaux’s Swifts. Back at the cabin later, there were Turkey Vultures flying around, also Spotted Towhees and a Steller’s Jay. My Merlin app regularly said that there were Black-throated Grey Warblers around but I could not lay eyes upon one.

30 June

I went to Union Bay Natural Area in the morning - it’s a rehabilitated site alongside the water. It was quite good although I think it’s not fully reached maturity. I didn’t find any new birds for my trip - the Merlin app suggested there were some, e.g. Golden-crowned Kinglet, but I wasn’t able to sight any of the potential new ones. I had great views of Bushtits and Black-capped Chickadees, and of an Osprey wheeling above me. I spent quite some time trying for a photo of a Bewick’s Wren - I had great views in the binoculars but couldn’t manage a decent shot of one.

2 July

I was all day on a birdwatching tour from Fairhaven near Bellingham. The main objective was to get to Smiths Island about 30km to the south-west. Here, after quite some searching, we found some Tufted Puffins, and eventually I had good views of several of them. Pigeon Guillemots and Glaucous-winged Gulls were really common, as were Rhinoceros Auklets from about halfway out. Around Smiths Island, using the kelp forest, were hundreds of gulls including some Heerman’s Gulls. There also were plenty of Pelagic Cormorants and Double-crested Cormorants, and a couple of Black Oystercatchers. There was a Parasitic Jaeger with the gulls at Smith Island.

3-6 July

We caught the car ferry from Anacortes to Orcas Island where we stayed for three nights. My main birding activities took place at Cascade Lake, Mt Constitution, Obstruction Pass Reserve, Olga, Orcas Landing and places around Eastsound (which is where we stayed). I found 34 species; the new ones for my trip included Belted Kingfisher, Purple Martin, Wilson’s Warbler, Black-headed Grosbeak, Western Flycatcher and Olive-sided Flycatcher. We had Anna’s Hummingbirds, Spotted Towhees and Dark-eyed Juncos around the house regularly, and frequent flyovers by Turkey Vultures.

8-10 July

I went with Margaret to Leavenworth, which is in the mountains about a four hour bus trip south-east from Seattle. My birding expeditions were to reserves on the Wenatchee River close to the town centre. Wednesday in the late afternoon, after our arrival, was hot and I didn’t find many birds. For quite a while, some Veerys were calling close by, but I couldn’t get onto them at all. I did eventually see some (a pair) on Thursday morning - they are ground-dwelling thrushes living amidst dense vegetation and thus hard to see, but they have a distinctive call. The birding was far better in the morning when it was cooler. New birds for me included Gray Catbird (nesting), Pygmy Nuthatch, Red-eyed Vireo and Pine Siskin. I also found a nest with young of Bullock’s Oriole - the parents were coming in frequently to feed them. There were some Spotted Sandpipers by the river, and I had great views of them a couple of times.

June 2026

12-13 June

En route to Newcastle on Friday afternoon for the waterbirds survey on the Saturday morning, I had made arrangements to go out in a boat to see the Cocos Booby, hoping to be able to photograph it. Unfortunately, the arrangements fell through and in the meantime wasted a couple of hours of my afternoon! Next morning, Ross, Holly and I had an enjoyable time doing the Ash Island survey. We did manage to find a migratory shorebird - a single Far Eastern Curlew. We were struck by how thin it looked, compared to the ones we were seeing on the island a couple of months ago. Other shorebirds today were Pied Stilt, Red-capped Plover and Black-fronted Dotterel, all in lowish numbers. Amongst the few hundred each of Chestnut and Grey Teal (both were present at many locations) we found about a dozen Australasian Shovelers. There was also one Australian Tern, which was in breeding plumage, and a solitary Sacred Kingfisher too. There were not many raptors today, but a couple of White-bellied Sea Eagles helped flush out some of the waterbirds for us, plus we saw Swamp Harriers several times.

10 June

I walked from Woy Woy to Blackwall alongside Brisbane Water. My highlights included five Caspian Terns and a pair of Pied Oystercatchers. I saw no egrets - a complete contrast to the previous time that I did the walk.

9 June

I surveyed my sites in the Warrah Trig section of Brisbane Water National Park. There were Rainbow Lorikeets everywhere - probably I saw 150-200 birds in total. There also were abundant honeyeaters, including a pair of Brown Honeyeaters - I don't find those often in that national park. At my first 2ha site I saw a group of Variegated Fairywrens, which were moving quietly through the undergrowth.

5 June

I visited two more of my sites in Brisbane Water National Park and then went to the arboretum at Pearl Beach. The national park was full of honeyeaters especially Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and Scarlet Myzomelas. A Brown Goshawk zipped through, silently - I was rather lucky to get a brief view of it.

3 June

I went to the Umina Coastal Sandplain Woodland to do my monthly surveys there. There were Mistletoebirds, Grey Fantails and Australian Golden Whistlers, but no birds at all were using the burnt section. My highlight was to see three Australian Brushturkeys together at a mound. One was an adult male, the other two were either females or young birds. After a short while, the male chased away the two others, who then branch-hopped up nearby trees.

2 June

I surveyed three of my sites in Brisbane Water National Park - the Pearl Caves area and then around Coora Swamp. My highlight was a pair of Rockwarblers, which were foraging together under the rock overhang at Pearl Caves. There were Scarlet Myzomelas at all three sites, and plenty of White-cheeked Honeyeaters and New Holland Honeyeaters in the area around Coora Swamp.

May 2026

26 May

I decided to go up to Lake Macquarie, as there was a report of an unusual booby hanging around Marks Point. After about an hour I bumped into some other birders, and a little bit later on we found it. Celebrations all round! It has since been confirmed (NB not by BARC as yet) to be a Cocos Booby, the first known record of one for Australia. As well as the usual cormorants, pelicans, gulls etc, there was a Pied Oystercatcher in the area.

25 May

There was no specific birdwatching activity today, but during my daily walk, this time around Booker Bay, I saw an out-of-season Sacred Kingfisher and a pair of Musk Lorikeets. Nice sightings!

21 May

I did my regular walk alongside Brisbane Water, going from Woy Woy to Blackwall. I only saw two pairs of Pied Oystercatchers (which is a low count for that locality) but there was a Little Heron and a couple of Caspian Terns, also two Long-billed Corellas were feeding on the ground and three Musk Lorikeets whizzed through. Right at the start there was a large group of egrets, all of them hunting in shallow water fringing on Pelican Island. There were ten Great Egrets and eight Little Egrets (plus there were a few Little Pied Cormorants). I didn't see anything being caught but I assume there was a run of fish happening.

20 May

I surveyed two more sites in Brisbane Water National Park, and then visited the arboretum at Pearl Beach. There were good numbers of honeyeaters around but nothing out of the ordinary. A Superb Lyrebird was calling at the arboretum but I wasn't able to lay eyes upon it. There had been some discussion recently on the Hunterbirding chat group about the Merlin bird identification app so I used it today. It worked well in Costa Rica two and a half years ago but back then when I tried Merlin in Australia (using it locally) it wasn't very good. It performed far better this time, certainly earning a pass mark (but definitely not a distinction). It was a complete failure with Little Wattlebirds. At one point I was standing right by a calling bird but the app didn't recognise it. I had several similar situations (and a couple of time it was incorrectly ID'd as a Red Wattlebird).

16 May

Ross and I did the monthly Ash Island survey. It was an early morning start and very foggy, which complicated our work. We found no migratory shorebirds, but there were 90+ Pied Stilts present and we saw three Red-capped Plovers. Teal were present in good numbers, with 600+ Chestnut Teal and almost 200 Grey Teal. On Swan Pond there was a pair of Australasian Shovelers too. In April we had eight raptor species, but only one this time - singles of Whistling Kite, two sightings.

15 May

I visited the Umina Coastal Sandplain Woodland for my monthly survey. There were two Australian Brushturkeys - one looked to be an immature bird (maybe a young female). There were some Scarlet Myzomelas around plus a young Australian Golden Whistler and some Grey Fantails.

13 May

I surveyed the Warrah Trig section of Brisbane Water National Park. There were quite a few honeyeaters although probably fewer than I was expecting. However, there were plenty of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters on migration passage, also lesser numbers of Silvereyes and Noisy Friarbirds. The highlight came leat in the morning - there was a Rockwarbler near the Warrah Lookout (although I only heard it). I went around to Patonga afterwards,but that was very quiet.

6 May

It was the HBOC 50th Anniversary Gala Night, held at the Newcastle Town Hall. And what a wonderful night it was - with lots of fun, lots of reminiscing, plenty of good food and drink, and the chance to catch up with so many old friends. Margaret and I had a great time, and so did everyone else judging by all the comments made on Hunterbirding over the ensuing days.

5 May

I surveyed three sites in Brisbane Water National Park in the morning - the Pearl Caves area and then around Coora Swamp. Noisy Friarbirds were by far the dominant species especially in the Coora Swamp area. Overall, I found very few birds that weren't some sort of honeyeater.

1 May

I did the walk from Woy Woy to Blackwall, alongside Brisbane Water. There were nine Caspian Terns on the jetty where last month there were five of them. I also found 13 Pied Oystercatchers, including there were five birds together on a jetty (plus there were four scattered pairs elsewhere). My highlight was a pair of Scaly-breasted Lorikeets - it's only the second time I have found them on the Central Coast. The Mallard count was down to 73 birds, and there were only four Black Swans around.