2024 Clallam County Birdathon REPORT

by Bob Boekelheide

The OPAS Clallam County Birdathon occurred this year on Saturday, May 11, in conjunction with World Migratory Bird Day. A dedicated group of at least 81 people in 64 parties went birding in Clallam County, providing a wonderful snapshot of spring migrants and nesting birds. In total, we recorded 183 species and 13,853 individual birds. Click here to see the count results.

 Our species count was slightly ahead of our 30-year average of 179 species, but below the record total of 203 species set in 2012. Unfortunately, the individual bird total was the second lowest since 1995, well below our 30-year average of about 22,778 birds.

 Why fewer birds? I believe the answer is partly because we did not do an adequate job counting the most abundant species, which usually contribute about half of all the birds on our counts. The 10 most abundant species this year, in order, were Glaucous-winged/Olympic Gull (1240 individuals), Pelagic Cormorant (656), Mallard (453), American Robin (423), Rhinoceros Auklet (394), Pigeon Guillemot (339), Turkey Vulture (325), Violet-green Swallow (304), American Goldfinch (260), and Common Murre (256). These 10 species made up about one-third of all the birds we counted. There were undoubtedly thousands more gulls, murres, auklets, swallows, and robins out there that didn’t get counted. It takes a different mindset to count large groups of birds, requiring more concentration and awareness.    

In years when we exceed 25,000 birds, it’s because someone took the trouble to do things like 1) observe Tatoosh Island at dusk for flocks of Common Murres, or 2) count Rhinoceros Auklet flocks assembled off Dungeness and Protection Island, or 3) count several gull roosts at spits and river mouths, or 4) tally robins singing during the dawn chorus, particularly on backroads in the Olympic foothills. But we can’t do everything, can we?     

Very few species set record or near-record high counts this year, compared with the last 31 years of our Birdathon. Species with high counts this year included Turkey Vulture, Chipping Sparrow, Pine Grosbeak, and Purple Finch. The high count of Turkey Vultures is largely due to Mike Charest, who tallied 165 vultures passing Bahokus Peak near Neah Bay. Both Chipping Sparrows and Purple Finches continue their long-term increases in the Olympic lowlands. This year was only the sixth time in 30 years that we have recorded Pine Grosbeak during Birdathon, thanks to Michael Barry covering Hurricane Ridge.   

Observers tallied 12 “count week” species, which means they were seen either three days before or three days after the count, but not on count day. Unusual count-week birds included Long-tailed Jaeger, Wandering Tattler, and Common and Arctic Tern, all seen by birders onboard the Sapphire Princess cruise ship, 60 miles offshore on 5/10. The same day Jordan Gunn recorded two American White Pelicans and a Cassin’s Finch while at Bahokus Peak. Other count-week birds included Barrow’s Goldeneye, Red Phalarope, Cassin’s Auklet, Leach’s Storm-Petrel, Cassin’s Vireo, and California Scrub-Jay, all species that likely occur somewhere in Clallam County in mid-May, but we missed them on count day.

Other than count week rarities, very few “rare” birds showed up this year on count day. Unusual species included migrating Broad-winged and Swainson’s Hawks passing by Bahokus Peak, seen by Mike Charest. Sue Nattinger discovered an American Goshawk by Freshwater Bay. Michael Barry found an American Three-toed Woodpecker at Hurricane Ridge.  

Some glaring misses this year included Long-tailed Duck, Ruddy Duck, Virginia Rail, Wilson’s Snipe, Western Screech-Owl, and Great Horned Owl. Once again, all of these species probably occurred somewhere in Clallam County on count day, but we honestly missed them. Showing how easily we could have missed other species, we only recorded one individual of 17 other species, from Eurasian Wigeon to Horned Lark. Species with particularly low counts this year included Vaux’s Swift, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Barn Swallow, American Robin, Savannah Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, and Brewer’s Blackbird. Otherwise, every species recorded on count day can typically be found somewhere in Clallam County during mid-May. It’s just a matter of knowing where to look and a little bit of luck.

Of all the species tallied on Birdathon day, it is interesting to note which ones recorded the highest numbers within different taxonomic groups. These are the species that make up a sizable portion of the avifauna of Clallam County in mid-May:

Most abundant goose: Canada Goose
Most abundant dabbling duck: Mallard
Most abundant diving duck: Surf Scoter
Most abundant grebe: Red-necked Grebe
Most abundant pigeon or dove: Band-tailed Pigeon
Most abundant hummingbird: Anna’s Hummingbird
Most abundant plover: Black-bellied Plover
Most abundant sandpiper: Dunlin
Most abundant alcid: Rhinoceros Auklet
Most abundant gull: Glaucous-winged/Olympic Gull
Most abundant loon: Pacific Loon
Most abundant cormorant: Pelagic Cormorant
Most abundant diurnal raptor: Bald Eagle
Most abundant owl: Barred Owl
Most abundant woodpecker: Northern Flicker
Most abundant flycatcher: Western Flycatcher
Most abundant vireo: Warbling Vireo
Most abundant corvid: American Crow
Most abundant chickadee: Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Most abundant swallow: Violet-green Swallow
Most abundant wren: Pacific Wren
Most abundant thrush: American Robin
Most abundant finch: American Goldfinch
Most abundant sparrow: Dark-eyed Junco
Most abundant icterid: Red-winged Blackbird
Most abundant warbler: Wilson’s Warbler

Kudos to our counters, particularly those that went the extra mile to explore out-of-the-way places, such as Scott Horton and Joel Brady-Power boating offshore at the west end of Clallam County, Michael Barry reconnoitering Hurricane Ridge, Mike Charest reporting his sightings at Neah Bay, and Skip Perkins and Gary Bullock scouring a multitude of locations in eastern Clallam County.

Many thanks to everyone reporting birds in Clallam County during Birdathon:  

Steve Koehler, Adrianne Akmajian, Alexandra Shumway, Judith White, Janet and Jock Slater, Peter Mann, Sheryl Bates, Edward Leonard, Skip and Caroline Perkins, Susan Savage and Bob Blush, Bob and Enid Phreaner, Sue Nattinger, Coleman Byrnes, Kathy Finholm, Mike Charest, Jean Siesener, Ida Domazlicky, Jane Nicholas, Penny Soares, Karen Holtrop, Pamela Jennings, Bill Baker, Ken Wiersema, Dow Lambert, Marie Grad, Daniel Siminski, Rhonda Coats, Audrey and Jim Gift, Laura Davis, Kate, Peter, and Annette Buenau, John Gatchet, Kristen Johansen, Abby Christensen, Katya Bridwell, Ann Skillman, Steve Ford, Colleen Ostrye, Rosanna Munoz, Libby Burtner, Iris Winslow, Brenda Grall, Scott Horton, Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin, Pauline Sterin, David Brown, Adam Krey, David Swinford, Pam Danner, Heidi Pedersen, James Grove, Nicholas Cottrell, Christa D, Ian Short, Windy Light, Vince Thrutchley, Mary Dufrain, Kathy and Otis Bush, Michael Barry, Joyce Volmut, Joel Brady-Power, Bob Boekelheide, Liam Hutcheson, Jason Vassallo, Rich Hoyer, Ed Corey, Bill Shelmerdine and at least 10 others on the Sapphire Princess, and two Anonymous eBirders.

We now enter the dog days of summer. By mid-July nearly all songbirds around here have finished their nesting seasons -- chicks have fledged, males stop singing, and territories have been abandoned. After nesting, nearly all birds at this latitude molt their feathers, so they retreat to special areas to change their plumages and avoid detection. Our local woods become eerily quiet.

As a result, our summer birding efforts move from forests to the coasts, where shorebirds returning from the Arctic and the interior of North America fuel up at local mudflats and marshes. It’s time for shorebirds! Also don’t forget the most unappreciated migration occurring right here on our doorstep: thousands of California Gulls passing by from inland nesting colonies on their way to California and Mexico. Check BirdCast often, the great new bird migration prediction tool from Cornell Lab of Ornithology, then test their predictions by going birding. See you out there!            

Remember the theme of this year’s World Migratory Bird Day is “Protect Insects, Protect Birds.”  Nearly all nesting songbirds rely on insects to feed their chicks, yet we continue to slaughter insects through the use of insecticides, particularly neonicotinoids. Studies have shown that neonicotinoids, which affect nearly all non-target species of insects like bees and butterflies, have caused the greatest losses, even more than habitat loss and climate change. Neonicotinoids have been largely banned in Europe, yet they continue to be used extensively in the United States, particularly as a seed coating that becomes systemic in the plants. Do your part by using organic foods and encouraging regulations that limit the overuse of neonicotinoids.         

If you are interested in local bird sightings, check out eBird at https://ebird.org/explore, then under "Explore Regions" enter Clallam or Jefferson County.  Please join eBird and add your own sightings, as well.