Shorebirds - where are you?

As I posted previously, our annual Shorebird festival is this weekend. I was out there this morning (excellent spring weather!) to do a bit of birdwatching. Usually, it's very quite and at most see just one or two other people. Today...there was not even any parking!

It's about a mile or so out to the platforms from the parking area. It was a warm and beautiful morning right at high tide (important to see the shorebirds in concentrations). As we got further out, I kept saying..."where are the birds?".

Apparently the counts are quite a bit lower this year. Don't know why. I for one am hoping they are just getting a late start in migrating.

Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival

One of my favorite events - it's mind blowing to see so many birds at once...

===============

EACH SPRING, hundreds of thousands of shorebirds stop to rest and feed in Grays Harbor estuary on their migration northward. Coming from as far south as Argentina, these Arctic-bound shorebirds are among the world's greatest migrants. Some birds travel over 15,000 miles round trip! Tens of thousands of shorebirds feed on the open mudflats in the estuary. This concentration of birds offers people a great chance to view a number of shorebird species, and with luck, to see the birds fly together in beautiful formations while trying to escape the fastest creature on earth, the Peregrine Falcon.

The 11th Annual Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival will be held on the weekend of April 28-30, 2006 in Hoquiam, Washington with headquarters at Hoquiam High School. The keynote speaker at the banquet on Saturday night will be Dr. Stephen W. Kress, Vice President of Bird Conservation for the National Audubon Society and manager of the Society's Maine Coast Seabird Sanctuaries. Included activities are guided field trips, fun fair for kids, live auction at the banquet, lectures, book signing by authors, poster contest in elementary schools, and lots more.

This wildlife spectacle happens every year at Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge and other parts of Grays Harbor County. People from around the world come to view this event of hemispheric importance. The Shorebird Festival works to bring people together for this incredible natural phenomenon.

To learn more please visit Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival

The Pelicans' brief visit

I love pelicans! Every summer the Brown Pelican blesses us with visits along our coastline. However, I don't think I've every seen a White Pelican here. But look who has....
=========

"I've never seen so many pelicans," says Sedwick. "At least not in this country."

"They're magnificent birds," he said of their black-tipped wings and 110-inch wingspan. "I never even knew they were here."

The birding community is all aflutter at the sheer number of pelicans stopping by Nelson Lake Marsh this spring. Bird enthusiasts counted as many as 145 birds, up from a previous high of about 30 to 40, says Bob Andrini, president of the Kane County Audubon Society.

"I really don't have an explanation as to why there are so many pelicans this year," Andrini said. "I think it's just a matter of they told someone, who told someone, who told someone."

The Pelicans' brief visit

Where to go birding?

I know this sounds like a no brainer, but you need to go to where the birds are. A good place to start is to find a bird sanctuary or wildlife refugee near you. There are hundreds of wildlife refugees in the United States and there is sure to be one with in driving distance of you. You can find a list of them at http://refuges.fws.gov. This is the federal wildlife service's web site for wildlife refugees.

For even more information on where to bird, read Bird Watching.

How to Identify Birds

The first thing a birder wants to do when starting out is to learn to identify birds. This article gives great pointers...could not have said it any better myself....

===========

Identifying birds involves some basic categories: visual categories such as size, shape, and field marks; behaviour categories such as habits, flight patterns, habitat, and song or call; and geographic characteristics such as migration and range.

Everyone knows a few broad categories of birds: swimmers, long-legged waders, aerialists, perching birds, woodpeckers, chicken-like birds, and birds of prey like hawks, eagles, and owls.
Categorizing a bird into one of these can be a good first step, eliminating many other possibilities.

It is also important to estimate the bird’s size and shape; was it tiny like a hummingbird, or big like an eagle?

You can use familiar birds as a reference; e.g. it was bigger than a robin but smaller than a crow.
Shape can help to eliminate many possibilities: birds can be slender like a heron, stout like a grouse, or streamlined; they can have crests, or long necks, or long or hook-shaped bills.
After the first two categories of size and shape, field marks can be crucial in either eliminating possibilities or nailing a bird’s identification.

A field mark is a distinguishing feature of a bird’s plumage, and can include marks such as wing-bars, eye-rings, and crown stripes; pay particular attention to marks on the head, wings, and tail.

In order to distinguish field marks, you need to learn the names for the parts of a bird; experts know these very well.

Of course there are the legs, wings, tail, bill, and head … but what about the nape, belly throat, and rump – or even more obscure parts such as the scapulars, under-tail coverts, and auricular? Any decent bird book includes a diagram showing all the parts of the bird that it uses for identification. Study these parts; it will pay off.

Read more about IDENTIFYING BIRDS