Pacific Northwest Trip ~ January 9, 2013

I drove into Portland and spent most of the morning in light rain at the Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area. A walk down the wooded section of the Interlakes Trail produced a few pockets of birds. These included good numbers of Ruby-crowned Kinglets with a few Golden-Crowneds mixed in, Black-capped Chickadees, Bushtits, a Bewick's Wren, a few Townsend's Warblers, Spotted Towhees, and Varied Thrushes, and at least a dozen 'Sooty' Fox Sparrows.

Varied Thrush at the Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area, Oregon.

'Sooty' Fox Sparrow at the Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area, Oregon.

The two lakes and smaller pools of water produced Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Bald Eagle, American Coot, and Western and Glaucous-winged Gull.

From here, the plan was to pick up Devich Farbotnik at the Seattle Airport, continue north to Vancouver Island, spend the night in Courtenay, and look for the Citrine Wagtail the next morning. Dev's flight was supposed to arrive at around 2:00 PM, but he called and told me that his plane in Philadelphia was delayed because of mechanical problems, causing him to miss his connection in Phoenix. He eventually got put on a later flight that didn't get him into Seattle until 10:15 PM. As a result, I ended up spending several hours napping in the car near the airport until he arrived. Since the last ferry left Tsawwassen, British Columbia at 10:45 PM, we ended up sleeping a few hours at the ferry dock, waiting for the first crossing at 5:15 AM.

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