April 11: Gary Shugart had good birding today: Hi All: The Brant flock from last weekend continues on Vashon, with an increase from 140. Total count was 177 (2 color bands seen) walking and feeding in the shallows at Elisport. Also 1 Caspian Tern at Shawnee, Outer Quartermaster Harbor, Vashon Island. 20+ Black Scoters near Dockton yesterday (10 April)
Bob Hawkins saw a Grey Whale in Q Harbor this morning.

April 11: Rick Sanders had a Purple Martin flying around the nest box in front of his house near Fern Cove on Burma Road.

April 16: Richard Rogers has a Red-naped Sapsucker. He had one before and we've had a hybrid before. It would be good to get a photo of this for verification.

April 16: Yesterday I heard Townsend's Warblers and a Fox Sparrow singing on Sue Trevathan's property in Paradise Valley as I walked by and saw mating CB Chickadees. A first of season Brown-headed Cowbird flew over. This morning, Yellow-rumped Warblers were going by overhead and I heard and saw more around the Island yesterday. Their migration seems to be really moving through. It should be easy to find Myrtle sub species among them.
Bianca Perla had a Mourning Dove by her place.

April 18: Joy Nelsen had the first of season Pacific-slope Flycatcher at her place by Pt. Robinson today.
Gary Shugart had the first of season "Black-throated Gray Warbler singing near 207th and West Side Hwy. Large flock of Audubon's and Myrtle Warblers with Ruby-crowned Kinglets moving through the trees at the Fisher Pond south turn out. Also a Double-crested Cormorant fishing and roosting on a post. And the Pied-billed Grebes were out in plain view. Also still large numbers of Scoters and Grebes at Portage plus 4 martins on the boxes and esp Barrow's Goldeyes and Scaup at Shawnee."

April 19: I heard a first of season Wilson's Warbler as well a Yellow-rumped Warbler and a number of Pacific-slope Flycatchers and Black-throated Grey Warblers.

April 22: This afternoon I received a call from Kat Lande at 14527 Vashon Hwy Sw, about two miles north of town on the west side about a Eurasian Collared-Dove visiting their yard for their chicken scratch corn. She had a Sibley's guide and a fairly good knowledge of birds so I headed up to check it out. It was coming and going, sometimes chased off by the chickens. It wasn't obviously present when I got there but we soon heard it calling from a nearby tree and got good looks at it and it later flew in closer. This is a first for Vashon.

April 25: Gary Shugarts found a Solitary Sandpiper at Fisher's Pond: "Except for killdeer, this was the one shorebird. Also Rough-winged Swallows, as Rayna thought, flying around with vg and barns. One Caspian Tern at Shawnee and a few Mew Gulls. There was a large flock (160) of Surf Scoters at Portage.

April 30: Sue Trethan had the first Warbling Vireo on the 27th. Gary Shugart is still seeing Harlequin Ducks at tahlequah. I heard Evening Grosbeaks on the 27th at Chautauqua school.

May 4: I saw four Least Sandpipers at high tide this morning at KVI beach. Rich Siegrist has House Finches and Anna's Hummers with fledged young. I've seen Starlings using several nest holes around.

May 6: Rich Siegrist had the first Black-headed Grosbeak yesterday.

Today on a Seattle Audubon field trip here we had a Marbled Murrelet at Fauntleroy, about 50 Brant just towards Vashon from mid channel and half a dozen Rhino Auklets a couple of hundred yards out from the dock. There were still some Harlequin Ducks, Bufflehead and Horned Grebes around the dock as well as several Brandt's Cormorants.
On the way to Fisher's Pond we stopped at the airport on Cove road and found baby Killdeer about Semipalmated Plover size in the grass right next to the road. I looked for Cliff Swallows but found only Violet-green Swallows.
Fisher's Pond had 3 Least Sandpipers working the mud and still had Ring-necked Ducks and lots of Swallows and one YR Warbler and a couple of Wilson's across the road.
At Mukai Pond, the cooler, cloudy weather persisted at first, so we heard just one or two of several warbler species: BTG, Wilson's, OC, YR and Yellowthroat as well as BH Grosbeak. However, where the trails forks to go to the pond or to the east side of the wet grass area, a Hammond's Flycatcher sang, gave it's call note and presented good views for scope and binocs. A comparison Pacific-slope was at hand for call note and song though we didn't get to see it. A flock of Band-tailed Pigeons flew by as well as half a dozen Cedar Waxwings, the first I've seen in 2010.
At my house we had good views of Hutton's Vireo and Wilson's Warbler. Also, along our driveway next to our neighbors house, I found an active Bushtit nest.

May 8: Around noon there was a House Wren singing along Pohl Road on the south end of the Island. It's early for Vashon but about middle of arival time for Pierce Co.
Joy Nelsen had the first for sure Western Tanagers this morning at her place by Pt. Robinson, Larry Huggins thought he might have heard them at his place by Lisabeula on Wednesday.
Yesterday there was Greater Yellowlegs on the shoreline of the QHarbor side of Portage.
This morning there was a lot of warbler activity as the sun hit one of my madrone trees: several Townsend's Warblers of both sexes, OC, and BTG and then Wilson's below in the undergrowth. A CB Chickadee nest was very active in a neighboring alder snage. YR Warblers were moving through farther down our driveway.

May 9: Gary Shugart had Swainson's Thrush foraging in his bushes Saturday.
Some thoughts on return behavior from Rich Siegrist: "A check of the boxes at Tramp Harbor this AM showed about 8 to 10 Purple Martins milling about. A quick boat trip around the island this morn turned up 25+ Surf Scoters, 3 Common Loons, a pair of Rhinoceros Auklets and a handful of Bonapartes Gulls. Other than the usual gulls and Pigeon Guillemonts everybody else seems to have left the area."

Here's the Saturday Vashon Audubon fieldtrip results from Alan Huggins: "First stop was Fisher Pond with numerous Yellow-rumped Warblers, both Myrtle and Audubon's, Tree and Violet-green Swallows, one pair of Ring-necked Ducks remaining, numerous Pacific-slope Flycatchers in the woods,a Pied-bill Grebe and lots of ducklings (mostly Mallard).

More warbler species at Mukai including Townsend's, Wilson's, Orange-crowned, Black-throated gray (heard), a male Hooded Merganser and full color Green-winged Teal. Also brief fly-overs by Osprey, Red-tailed hawk, Raven performing flight rolls like an F-15 to avoid the attack dives of a Crow.

May 11: Rich Siegrist had an Olive-sided Flycatcher calling at his place this morning. Michael Ruggs had a dozen Evening Grosbeaks clean out his feeder this morning.

May 16: Steve Caldwell had a Bullock's Oriole in his yard yesterday. They seem to pass through mostly along shoreline bluff vegetation.
At the Low Tide festival, John Friars saw a small flock of Brant. This is the latest sighting I have on record for them for Vashon.
Today I heard Western Wood-Pewee at the Old Mill Rd. pond and along 107th just north of 204th.
A Yellow Warbler was in the tree of the Methodist Church parking lot this morning and a Yellow-rumped Warbler.

May 18: Bianca Perla saw a Northern Harrier on Reddings Beach Rd. just in from Westside Hwy.
Gary Shugart saw a Varied Thrush by the dump May 14.

Sightings July through December, 2009