Photo: Bob Boekelheide

2022 Sequim-Dungeness Christmas Bird Count

by Bob Boekelheide

Despite freezing temperatures, 135 intrepid Christmas Bird counters and feeder watchers did admirably well for the 47th Sequim-Dungeness CBC, held on December 19, 2022.

*Pamela Jennings and Bill Baker during the 2022 Sequim-Dungeness CBC - Photo: Bob Boekelheide*

We tallied 143 species this year, right about average for the last 25 years, but quite a bit lower than our all-time record of 154 species in 2015. The total number of individual birds this year was 60,048, much higher than last year’s 53,707, but still lower than the all-time high count of 85,777 individuals seen in 2011 (see attached table of this year’s CBC results).

As so often happens, Sequim weather came through on count day. Even though temperatures never rose above 30 degrees, north winds stayed light and lowland snow held off until late in the day. Just 24 hours later the count might have been impossible, after an Arctic air mass and several inches of snow fell on Sequim and Dungeness.

The most abundant species this year, as usual, was American Wigeon, with 12,347. You want to see some wigeons? Go to Carrie Blake Park, where Bob Iddins tallied over 4100 wigeons on count day, including 22 Eurasian Wigeons. Last year, largely thanks to Bob Iddins and Carrie Blake Park, our SDCBC set the high count for Eurasian Wigeons in the whole United States. I suspect the same thing might happen this year.

*Male American Wigeon and Eurasian Wigeon - Photo: Dow Lambert*

Other abundant species, in decreasing order of abundance, were Mallard (5722), Dark-eyed Junco (3928), Northern Pintail (3414), American Robin (3231), Glaucous-winged/Olympic Gull (2512), Dunlin (2206), Ancient Murrelet (2165), Green-winged Teal (1529), and Bufflehead (1522). These top-ten species made up about 64 percent of all the birds tallied on our count.

I am most impressed by the numbers of juncos. Our count this year (3928) blew away our old record high count (2646), set just last year. Showing how abundant and widespread juncos were this year, fifteen different counting groups tallied more than 100 juncos on their individual lists. The highest count was at West Dungeness, where they recorded 623 juncos, followed by Diamond Point and Gardiner, where they recorded 494 juncos.

Species setting record or near-record high counts this year, in addition to juncos, included: Greater White-fronted Goose, Bald Eagle, Greater Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Black-capped Chickadee, Pacific Wren, Hermit Thrush, Varied Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-crowned Sparrow, and American Goldfinch.

*Hermit Thrush - Photo: Bob Boekelheide*

There is a great deal of speculation that wintering ranges of birds might expand north as a result of global warming. Is that what we are seeing here? Several of these species, such as Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and White-crowned Sparrow, winter in greatest numbers not too far to our south, like in California and Oregon. The prediction says that these and other species may begin spending their winters further north, which may in turn increase their numbers on our CBCs. Average conditions might allow this, but the real test is whether they are able survive Arctic outbreaks and lots of snow as we experienced just after the CBC.

Varied Thrushes set a new all-time record with 525 this year, almost doubling their old record of 266 set in 2001. As seems to be the case, cold temperatures and mountain snows this year likely pushed Varied Thrushes downslope into the lowlands, not only here, but throughout western WA. The field party with the highest Varied Thrush count during our CBC was the East Sequim Bay party, who tallied 77 for the day.

The American Goldfinch count this year was the second-highest ever, with 448 birds seen by 15 different parties. The area with the highest number of goldfinches was at Three Crabs, where they tallied 155 goldfinches. By itself, that number (155) is greater than the number of goldfinches seen on all previous SDCBCs except for only two, this year and 2018. Coincidentally, in 2018 the SDCBC set the all-time record number for goldfinches, with 462.

Ancient Murrelets had their highest count since 2011, thanks to our offshore boat party. As is often the case, last year’s SDCBC scored the highest count of Ancient Murrelets for all CBCs in the world, and I suspect we might do so again this year. The eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca, particularly the area between Protection Island and Dungeness Spit, appears to be a hotspot for these little alcids during late fall and early winter.

At the other end of the abundance spectrum, some species showed very low numbers this year, including Black Scoter, Red-throated Loon, Common Loon, Western Grebe, Hutton’s Vireo, Cedar Waxwing, Pine Siskin, and Brewer’s Blackbird.

You may have noticed that Pine Siskins are virtually absent from the north Olympic Peninsula this fall. Our Pine Siskin count this year was the second-lowest ever, with only 45 birds. Actually, I’m surprised we tallied that many, because siskins have been so scarce this winter. Our lowest SDCBC siskin count ever was in 2013, when we recorded only 31 siskins. Of interest, Pine Siskin’s record high count occurred only two years ago, when we counted a phenomenal 8966 in 2020. Talk about year-to-year variation!

Pine Siskins qualify as an “irruptive” finch, meaning they nomadically move around each year due to food availability. The Finch Research Network, which forecasts winter movements of irruptive finches, predicted that Pine Siskins will likely stay north in western Canada this winter, due to a bumper crop of spruce cones. My friend Andy Stepniewski says that Pine Siskins are also showing up in large numbers in the American Southwest this winter, at places like New Mexico. Regardless of where they are, Pine Siskins are very low on the north Olympic Peninsula so far this winter.

It is also very unusual for our CBC to record more goldfinches than siskins, which has only happened twice in 47 years. The only years when goldfinches outnumbered siskins occurred in 2013 and this year, both years when we had virtually zero siskins.

The disappearance of Western Grebes is particularly depressing. Our CBC set its all-time record for Western Grebes way back in 1984, with 533 Western Grebes. They have since precipitously declined in the Salish Sea, particularly over the last 20 years. This year we recorded only seven, the second lowest ever. The average count for the last five years is only 15 per year. Sooner or later, we will likely miss Western Grebes on our CBC. It will be a very sad day.

Another species missing from the north Olympic Peninsula this year is Cedar Waxwing. We now expect to see waxwings every year, but, in reality, waxwings were an unusual species in the early days of the SDCBC. During the first 25 years of the SDCBC, from 1975 to 2000, Cedar Waxwings only occurred six years. In a remarkable turnaround, waxwings have occurred every year since 2001 except for only two, 2010 and 2022. Why the change? Are we better at finding waxwings, knowing where to look for them? Maybe. Are they genuinely increasing around here during winter? Maybe. Regardless, they are not here this winter.

Our count-week species, seen within three days of the CBC but not on count day, were Redhead and Band-tailed Pigeon. We totally missed Western Screech-Owl, Canada Jay, Evening Grosbeak, and Orange-crowned and Townsend Warbler.

As always, several unusual species showed up for our CBC. The most unusual species was a stake-out Northern Mockingbird that has been visiting a feeder in Sequim since November. This is the first mockingbird ever for our CBC. Next most unusual might be the Lesser Black-backed Gull here for its second winter, roosting with other gulls at Maple View Farm, near the mouth of Bell Creek. Other noteworthy species included a Spotted Sandpiper at Washington Harbor, only the eighth time this species occurred on the SDCBC; nine Yellow-billed Loons and a Bonaparte’s Gull found by our boat party; one Canvasback swimming with scaup off Dungeness; one Sora at Three Crabs; one Harris’s Sparrow at Jamestown; two Swamp Sparrows at Graysmarsh; and two Greater Yellowlegs and three Snow Buntings at Dungeness Spit.

Special thanks to property owners who allowed access for the count, including USFWS, Olympic Game Farm, Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, Dungeness Farms and Habitat, Willits family, Graysmarsh, Maple View Farm, WA State Parks, WADNR, Clallam County Parks, and more. Great thanks particularly to Durkee Richards for providing the offshore boat. Other than our great observers, we can credit Durkee for our CBC leading the world in species like Pigeon Guillemot, Ancient Murrelet, and Yellow-billed Loon. To our esteemed observers who traveled long distances to help with the count, we particularly thank you. And of course, huge thanks to all the great cooks who provided food for the compilation dinner, and to the Dungeness River Nature Center for hosting the compilation. If I forgot anyone, sorry about that, and thank you very much!

Dungeness Spit-Jamie Acker, James Halsh; Dungeness Rec. Area- Ken Wiersema, Dow Lambert, Sue Nattinger, Coleman Byrnes, Alex Ayoub, Len Zeoli; West Dungeness-Denny Van Horn, Liam Hutcheson, Jacob Miller, Elizabeth McManus, Barb Boekelheide, Katja Bridwell; Three Crabs- Scott Gremel, Mandy Holmgren, Eric Guzman, Melissa Marshall, Dave Manson, Tom Butler, Lee Bowen, Kaye Edmiston; Jamestown-Brad, Dan, & Kevin Waggoner; Graysmarsh-Bob Boekelheide, Alex Scagliotti, Elisabeth Langski; Port Williams/WA Harbor- Ken & Mary Campbell; W. Sequim Bay-Steve Hampton, Barry McKenzie, Bruce & Carol Von Borstel; E. Sequim Bay-Judy Mullally, Dan McDougall-Treacy; Miller Peninsula-Powell Jones, Greg Voyles, Katherine & Otis Bush; Diamond Point/Gardiner-John Gatchet, Bob Bagwell, David Durham; Offshore Boat-Charlie & Linnaea Wright, Mike Crim, Durkee Richards; Protection Island-Sue Thomas, Lorenz Sollman, Janis Burger, Susan Savage, Bob Blush, Pat Willets, Rebecca Fernandez; Chicken Coop-Bob Steelquist; Palo Alto Rd- Kathy & Matt McCoy, Valerie Walcott, Eva Terry; Burnt Hill-John Bridge, Brian Berg; South Sequim-Kendra Donelson, Joyce Volmut; Happy Valley-John Acklen, Juanice Reyes, Audrey Gift, Margaret Levitan; W of Dungeness Riv./S of Hwy 101-Norrie & Barb Johnson, Ida Domazlicky, Penny Soares, Jane Nicholas, Sammy Catiis, Mary Morgan, Tim McNulty, Dave Shreffler, Pat and Michael DeMarco; Robin Hill Park/Solmar-Barb Blackie, Heidi Pedersen; McDonell Creek-Tom Guobis, Joan McDermott, Margie Palmer, Joodie Klinke, Debbie Turner, Barbara Vanderwerf, Sarah Bird. Laura Davis, Alan Smith; Carlsborg/W. Dungeness-Marie Grad, Rosemarie Leuke, Steve Koehler, Sharle Osborne, Jim Karr, Skip & Caroline Perkins; Sequim neighborhoods-Bob Iddins, Montel & Walt Livingston, Wayne & Margie Sladek, Gail Wilson, Patrick & Audrey Guilfoile, Helen Pilch, Doris Causey, John & Diana Anderson, Joy Bertman, Don & Sue Dryden, Jolene Sandborn, Ed Stege, Tom Backe, Syrene Forsman; North Sequim to Dungeness- Gary Bullock, Enid and Bob Phreaner, Kevin Froese, Marion Rutledge, Vince Thrutchley, Ron Wright, Ann Skillman, Michael Barry; Railroad Bridge Park- Pamela Jennings, Bill Baker, Kathy Jenkins, Siri Forsman-Sims, Karen Holtrop; Swans-Dee Renee Ericks, Dan Stephens, Rick Rodlend, Kathy Cooper.

Day lengths are getting longer, so it's time to go birding. Please become a member of eBird at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and post your bird sightings. Check eBird often to see what others are seeing. If you see something really unusual, please contact Bob Boekelheide at bboek@olympus.net. Thank you very much for your sightings.