[Tweeters] Edmonds Roundup - June-July 2021

[Carol Riddell]

Hi Tweeters,

For the most part, they have been a quiet two months. That said, the White-rumped Sandpiper (code 5), 6-1-21, was the big news for June. It is the 278th species for the Edmonds city checklist and probably the best bird that has ever been seen in the Edmonds Marsh. We’re really glad that so many birders got to see it as it remained in the marsh all day and it was either a life bird or state bird for many, if not most. Other year birds include:

Willow Flycatcher (code 3), 6-2-21, Edmonds marsh. Subsequent reports at this and a couple of other locations.

Bullock’s Oriole (code 3), 6-7-21, Edmonds Lake Ballinger neighborhood. We missed that species in 2020.

Black Swift (code 4), 6-12-21, Edmonds marsh.

Green Heron (code 3), 6-13-21, Edmonds marsh.

Northern Harrier (code 3), 6-18-21, Haines Wharf Park.

Ring-billed Gull (code 3), 7-9-21, Water Street public access.

Baird’s Sandpiper (code 3), 7-30-21, Brackett’s Landing North beach.

Semipalmated Sandpiper (code 3), 7-31-21, Edmonds marsh.

On June 5th, a birder who was at Civic Field in the Edmonds Bowl reported a flyover of five swans. They were flying low and flew over twice. They were silent but he presumed they were Trumpeters. It is an unusual sighting for that time of year. I ran a species map in eBird to see if anyone had reported them there. I found nothing other than a few single swan reports for late May and early June in Western Washington.

We had a report of a Great Horned Owl (code 4) hooting about 10:30 pm, July 28th, in the Soundview Place neighborhood north of downtown Edmonds. My thinking is that it is the same owl that is infrequently heard calling in the Seaview neighborhood and that it is either a lone bird or one of a pair that has a territory that includes these two neighborhoods and Southwest County Park. A couple of years ago, before we had birder reports of a Great Horned owl calling in these parts of north Edmonds, a homeowner at the north end of Soundview Place had told me they were frequently hearing an owl at night and they thought it was a Great Horned. None had been reported in the city for a number of years so I provided my email address and asked for a recording next time the owl was heard. The homeowner agreed but then never provided followup information.

There were 28 Western Grebes on the waters off of Haines Wharf Park on July 31st. It is the only July report in eBird for this species in Edmonds or Snohomish County. The number seems to represent a first return of migrating Western Grebes to their usual wintering location between Edmonds and Whidbey Island.

Our big misses of expected species for the year continue to be Eurasian Wigeon, Cinnamon Teal, American Coot, Surfbird, and Cassin’s Vireo. It is possible that we will pick up the wigeon when ducks return in the fall and the Surfbird in late fall or early winter. A couple of these species are in the eBird public data but we did not know the birders, other known birders were around and did not report them, and the reports contained no documentation. For these reasons, we opted not to add them to our year list.

We have 170 species on our 2021 year list as of July 31st. I am always grateful to those of you who share your Edmonds sightings with me. It helps us keep an accurate track of our year birds and our rare birds. Thank you! If you would like a copy of our 2021 city checklist, please request it at checklistedmonds at gmail.com <mailto:checklistedmonds at gmail.com>.

Good birding,

Carol Riddell
Edmonds, WA

Abundance codes: (1) Common, (2) Uncommon, (3) Harder to find, usually seen annually, (4) Rare, 5+ records, (5) Fewer than 5 records
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