Mindful Birding Summary for 1 April 2025
Dear Mindful Birders,
 
Despite a slow start at Otis Perkins, 7 of us were gifted with a Common Loon in breeding plumage as well as a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers, and male, immature male and female Common Goldeneyes quite close to shore. Farther out in the channel, Horned Grebes sported varying iterations of winter and summer plumages.
 
Brief views of Common Ravens and American Crows generated a discussion of how to tell them apart. Ravens have much deeper, guttural voices than crows and their tails are tapered or diamond-shaped. Crows utter higher-pitched "caw-caws" and tails are squared off. Here are some helpful images and tips from Cornell's All About Birds website. Note the Common Raven's larger bill, often ruffled throat feathers, longer wings, and more often gliding/soaring flight.
 
 
American Crows have shorter, broader wings and flap more steadily than ravens.
 
A Glaucous-winged Gull posed six feet away.
Note the all grey and white plumage (no black in wingtips),
yellow bill and pink feet.

Two marine mammals surfaced briefly: a Stellar's Sea Lion and Harbor Seals.
 
Other birds observed: Canada Goose, Bufflehead, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle  Pelagic Cormorant (with white flanks in breeding plumage), White-crowned Sparrow (heard singing). Those of us who stayed on a bit longer were treated to a noisy flock of 8 Black Oystercatchers flying by.
 
(CLICK ON THE BOLD BLUE UNDERLINED BIRD NAMES TO GO TO PHOTOS & INFO AT CORNELL'S ALL ABOUT BIRDS WEBSITE.)
 
Places to follow-up: field guides, Cornell's All About Birds website, or the Merlin app for deeper knowledge. You might also wish to record your observations on the Community Science Platform, eBird.org or in a journal (see The Naturalist's Notebook, below).
 
Also, I highly recommend Tyler Davis' Birding 101 presentation! See details below.
 
The next walk will be on Tuesday, April 8th. (Normally, the walks are on the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays, but I needed to change that this month.) Please sign up in the library, call (360-468-2265) or email Beth@LopezLibrary.org.
 
Have a bird question? You are welcome to email me at Beth@LopezLibrary.org or stop by the library.
 
Birdingly,
Beth

Birding 101
Birding 101 Presentation with Tyler Davis
 
Tyler Davis is an expert birder living on San Juan Island. The San Juan Island Library recorded his excellent presentation. View it on YouTube by clicking on the link below:

Tyler Davis' Birding 101 talk
 

Recommended Resources
National Geographic field guide to the birds of Western North America
by Jon L. Dunn

An up-to-date birding handbook provides identification tips, 3,500 full-color illustrations, six hundred locator and range maps, information on behavior and nesting, new plumage and species classification data, and other valuable facts about 750 North American birds found west of the Rocky Mountains. 
Peterson field guide to birds of western North America / : Includes Birds of Hawaii
by Roger Tory Peterson

"A new edition of the best-selling field guide, with 25 all-new plates covering the birds of Hawaii"
Sibley's Birds of the Pacific Northwest Coast
by David Allen Sibley

53 waterbirds commonly found in the region; migratory birds and year-round residents; shorebirds, gulls and terns; wading birds; ducks. Waterproof, accordion-style.

 
Sibley's Backyard Birds of the Pacific Northwest
by David Allen Sibley

69 land birds commonly found in the region; migratory species and year-round residents; songbirds, hawks, woodpeckers and more. Waterproof, accordion-style.
 
The naturalist's notebook : an observation guide and 5-year calendar-journal for tracking changes in the natural world around you
by Nathaniel T Wheelwright

This one-of-a-kind guide instructs readers in honing their nature observation skills, with a five-year journal format to create a long-term record of the patterns, highlights, and changes in their own backyards -- from the date of the first frost to when summer fireflies appear.
 

Lopez Island Library
2225 Fisherman Bay Rd
Lopez Island, Washington 98261
360-468-2265
www.lopezlibrary.org