Iris missouriensis at Admiralty Inlet Preserve. Photo Credit: Jim Zimay

May 13: BINN visited Admiralty Inlet Preserve on a cool gray day. We planned a hybrid excursion to accommodate birders who are having trouble walking. Halfway around the meadow, two birders set up their folding chairs while the others continued on the trail toward an ancient windswept Douglas Fir. 
The highlight for the seated birders was listening to Orange-crowned Warblers warbling.

Cinnamon Teal photo by Mary Jo Adams

At the always satisfying Deer Lagoon back at the end of April we identified nearly 50 species, including Ospreys and Caspian Terns who have arrived, and the most glorious Cinnamon Teals hanging with about eight other types of ducks all mingling together!  A Savannah Sparrow posed for a long time for good looks.  Everyone is sporting their very best breeding plumage, and busy! 

Great time of the year to see the park! A nice mild spring day with broken clouds provided soft light for our walk. The six of us met up with State Park AmeriCorps Interpretive Naturalist Lyla Biddle.

Birding in Neighborhoods North (BIN North) outings are on the second Wednesday of the month. We meet at 9 am in the parking area of the trip’s location. To be added to — or removed from — the monthly outing reminders, email Nancy Luenn

Early Spring is still loaded with duck sightings at Deer Lagoon (everything but Wigeons!) - Ring-necks, Buffleheads, scaup, goldeneyes, Mallards, Pintails, and geese, Hooded and Red-breasted Mergansers, and everyone is stunning in their new seasonal plumage.

Birding in Neighborhoods South (BIN South) meets every other Thursday morning. Contact Cathi Bower.

Seven people came to the Freeland County Park Small Sit on a damp Saturday, April 11, to enjoy a variety of fauna including both birds and sea mammals! Two children in attendance looked at the wildlife and played on the playground.

The rain subsided just after the beginning of the Sit and conveniently stayed away until just before the Sit ended, giving us humid conditions but good lighting for viewing out on the water.

Lyla Biddle, Deception Pass State Park AmeriCorps Interpretive Naturalist writes this trip description:

On April 4th, 23 field trip attendees enjoyed a stunning spring day at Rosario Beach. The morning began with trip leader Madrone Ruggiero providing some hands-on learning in the form of several sleepy moths, a valuable food source for a variety of bird species found in the park.

Back at the end of February out at Deer Lagoon, that Redhead was still out there hanging with the scaup and some Ring-necked Ducks and all the other many species to be expected — Northern Pintails, Gadwalls, wigeons, Mallards, Green-winged Teals, Hooded Mergansers, Buffleheads, Coots, a Common Goldeneye and Canada Geese.
Cathi describes what was seen during March though the first day of Spring at Deer Lagoon and the Greenbank Farm.

Two participants joined trip leader Madrone Ruggiero on a cloudy and damp walk through South Whidbey State Park on March 19. The whistle of a Varied Thrush heard from the parking lot started us off on a trend of heard, but not seen birds. After examining a couple common late winter moths including Cerastis enigmatica, whose larvae eat salmonberry bushes that are just beginning to break bud, we set off through the campground. Our first sighting of spring in the campground was a Bigleaf Maple tree with swollen flower buds just beginning to open, which got the group started on the topic of edible plants. See more.

Sunny skies and calm seas welcomed the dozen attendees of the Flintstone Park Small Sit on Saturday February 28. At the start of the sit a flock of Northern Pintails dabbled in the shallows at the edge of the water while a small flock of Short-billed Gulls rested on the sand. Two pairs of Mallards among the pintails gave us an opportunity to compare the females of the two species. …

March 7: A highlight of this 2-hour field trip occurred before it even started: an adult Bald Eagle skimmed the surface of the bay and caught a surf smelt in each of its talons. The trip itself, with 16 attendees, commenced at the marina.  Several Bufflehead were there, along with a pair of Pied-billed Grebes. A Belted Kingfisher dove a couple of times from the railing of a sailboat. Other waterbirds included Pelagic and Double-crested Cormorants, Red-breasted Mergansers, Canada Geese, and Pigeon Guillemots.

“Now that we’ve had that spring tease for a few days there, we’ll recollect these past winter weeks, which began with hot cider and goodies at Freeland Park back on Christmas Day! A surprising turnout of birders and birds—up in the park and along the shore that morning we saw and/or heard over 30 species.

Since then, from the East and West dikes at Deer Lagoon we’ve observed the season and tides turn….” Read about the species spotted in Cathi Bower’s report.