I also saw a male Black Scoter at the end of Holmes Harbor today at about 12:30.
Linda Bainbridge
Above comment submitted Jan 23, 2012
Jan. 23 around 11 a.m. saw a single male black scoter off Joseph Whidbey S.P. beach, working his way north. Don't think I've ever seen one up this way despite the Birds of Whidbey Island checklist calling them common in the winter.
Carla Corin
Note to the person with a photo of the mystery hummingbird: You can post your photo to this website via the Photobucket feature on the right side of this page.
Sarah Schmidt
Above comment submitted Jan 21, 2012
Most likely it is a female Anna's Hummingbird. That would be more probably. A lot of male and female Anna's Hummingbirds stay on Whidbey year-round.
Linda Bainbridge
Above comment submitted Jan 21, 2012
We believe my wife has discovered a female black-chinned hummingbird on our property. She showed up January 20, 2012. I went out with binoculars and as far as I can tell her coloring matches what I have found on the Audobon Society's bird guide. According to that site, these birds have never been reported here in Island County. Also, the site says Black-chinned males usually only show up in Washington in May, with females following in a couple of weeks. This is very odd, seeing as it is now January AND we're not in their normal range.
We have not been able to see if she has made a nest or not.
We live just outside of Oak Harbor, on Crescent Acres Rd, which is just off Crescent Harbor.
We have just gotten a good photo and are getting ready to upload it somewhere.
Above comment submitted Jan 21, 2012
1/18/12 - Skiing through Ebey's prairie I saw 3 Western Meadowlarks and from the bluff, a Killdeer. Today I've had 4 Fox sparows dining on sunflower seeeds perppering the snow. Wished I'd seen 37 Varied thrushes or even say...30. :)
Gary Piazzon
1/18/12 I had a male yellow shafted flicker at the feeder and still have a pair of Chipping sparrows. Call me if you'd like to see them.
Mike Dessert 678-4271
37+ Varied Thrush  in the yard today (01/19/12)
Craig & Joy Johnson
Bush Point area
Snowstorm/High North Winds & 22F. 11:05 am North Whidbey. OK.. here's the update on the Hummingbirds. Just now, there were 2 different males fighting today over the feeder. I put out another feeder. They are wasting their energy zooming at each other. One looks like a black-chinned male, and the other I don't know. It must be an Anna's male, but the coloring looks more like a Costa in our birdbook -- but this isn't the range for a Costa. Perhaps a Rufous ?? One must be an Anna's. FBrett near Navy Golf Course. We have 3 birds today -- 2 males and 1 female.
Above comment submitted Jan 18, 2012
A friend of mine, and fellow birder traveling in Oregon, saw two Anna's hummingbirds locked in combat. They met on a limb, fell to the ground grappling briefly. A little early for mating behavior, a little rough for Anna's. Comments?
1/17/12A swainson's thrush on Pennington hill yesterday. It was foraging on the ground at several locations, briefly perching in a small fir.
1/18/12 Ruby crowned kinglet vying for time on the suet feeder this AM. I've never seen one there before.
Saw a tan-striped morph of the White-throated Sparrow with a crowd of hungry birds in the snow under my neighbors feeder in Greenbank this morning.
Linda Bainbridge
Above comment submitted Jan 17, 2012
Yesterday  
we had wild activity in our small back yard at Whidbey Shores. Maybe 200 smaller birds fighting for water in our bird bath and 8 flickers vying for these suet blocks
Penny Thackeray
Above comment submitted Jan 17, 2012
[Copied from Tweeters Digest FYI]
Mon, 16 Jan 2012
We watched a dozen western meadowlarks at about noon today, south end of Crockett Lake on Whidbey. They were back and forth across the road where it makes a right angle turn heading north to the Coupeville ferry. Great colors
this time of year.
david armstrong
A Morthern Flicker posted himself in my weeping crabapple on the lookout for starlings. The Flicker pair usually dine at the nearby suet feeder which has been mobbed by starlings in the last day or two. Not today, however. I observed the Flicker chasing the starlings away! Mary Hollen, Lagoon Point.
Above comment submitted Jan 17, 2012
The hummingbird --"Anna's" (?) female-- that has been at our feeder in past months, was today @ 10:30 AM (1-14-2012) joined by the male! What a bright magenta-colored head he has!! North Whidbey, near Navy Golf Course. In frost and snow today; we have been taking feeder in at night and returning it out in morning. F.Brett.
Two Western Meadowlarks sitting on the fence posts at Crockett Lake across the road from the two ponds. Seen at about 9:20am on 12/13/2012.
-Emma Ruggiero
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Birding In The Neighborhoods - Weekly Field Trips
Meet at the Bayview Park n Ride; birding usually is north up to Crockett Lake and sometimes Penn Cove. The trips are on Thursdays and the meeting time varies with the season. If you would like to be notified of the events, contact Phyllis Kind by online
letter. Carpool
Saturday, January 21, 2012: Field Trip
Penn Cove
Penn Cove is a site featured on the newly published The Great Washington Birding Trail Puget Loop map. Look for shorebirds, waterfowl and raptors. Meet at Partridge Point (west end of Libbey Road) at 9:00am for this 1/2 day trip. We'll form carpools at the meeting place. Snow or ice cancels this event. Some walking if time and weather permits. Trip leader is Steve Ellis 678-2264 (email). Carpool
Saturday, February 4: Field Trip
Raptors and Big White birds
Skagit Flats, Fir Island and Samish Flats. Find snow geese,
swans, ducks, and raptors. Some walking will be involved. Be
prepared for some mud. To carpool, meet at Windjammer Park
(also known as City Beach) at the end of South Beeksma Drive
in Oak Harbor next to the water at 9 a.m. A Washington Department
of Fish and Wildlife (wdfw) parking permit will be needed
for each car. Bring a lunch for this all-day field trip. The trip leaders
are John Leaser (email) and Joe Sheldon (email). Snow or ice cancels the trip.
Thursday, Feb 9, 2012: Meeting
Mark Borden, Falconry. Check back for details. Unitarian Universalist Church, 20103 State Route 525, Freeland. 100 yards north of Island Recycling. Doors open at 7 pm, meeting at 7:15, program at 7:30. Please bring a mug for coffee. Carpool
Saturday, February 25: Field Trip
Owling
Whidbey is home to six
owl species and occasionally visited by others. Bring flashlights
and dress warmly. Meet at the Coupeville High School parking
lot on Main Street at 4:30 p.m. The trip leader is Gary Piazzon
(email) or call 360-678-5131.
Thursday, Mar 8, 2012: Meeting
Dennis Paulson, Seabird Overview. Check back for details. Unitarian Universalist Church, 20103 State Route 525, Freeland. 100 yards north of Island Recycling. Doors open at 7 pm, meeting at 7:15, program at 7:30. Please bring a mug for coffee. Carpool
Saturday, March 10: Field Trip
Birch Bay and Semiahmoo
Join Phyllis Kind for an all day trip to a top birding site in
northwest Washington. Participants should bring lunch. Meet
at Trinity Lutheran Church at 8 a.m.; in the new Coupeville
Park & Ride lot at 201 South Main Street (behind Whidbey
Dermatology) at 8:30 and at Windjammer Park in Oak Harbor
at the end of South Beeksma Drive at 8:50 to form carpools.
Contact trip leader Phyllis Kind for details (email) or call 360-331-6337.
Thursday, Apr 12, 2012: Meeting
Joe Gaydos, Bird and Mammal Survey of Salish Sea. Check back for details. Coupeville Recreation Hall (map). Doors open at 7 pm, meeting at 7:15, program at 7:30. Please bring a mug for coffee. Carpool
Thursday, May 10, 2012: Meeting
Black Guillemot Research in the Arctic
Ornithologist George Divoky has spent the majority of four decades at a seabird colony at the edge of the Arctic Ocean studying the response of Black Guillemots to alterations in their terrestrial and marine environment. Recently the pace and magnitude of change has increased as the record
retreat of sea ice has allowed the subarctic Horned Puffin to compete with guillemots for nest sites and has forced polar bears to seek refuge on the island where they prey on guillemot nestlings. Divoky's story and images of the rapid rate of environmental change observed during his
solitary summers on a remote island provide an engaging and informative cautionary tale for those concerned about birds and the natural world. Coupeville Recreation Hall (map). Doors open at 7 pm, meeting at 7:15, program at 7:30. Please bring a mug for coffee. Carpool
Saturday, March 24: Field Trip
Exploring Central Whidbey
Forests
We'll visit two heritage forests. The Rhododendron
Forest is dominated by ultra slow growing Douglas fir and a
rich understory including the native pink flowering rhodies
which give the park its name. We'll also visit the Baker Reserve,
an old growth coastal forest whose trees have been shaped by
the fierce wind of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Meet in the new
Coupeville Park & Ride lot at 201 South Main Street at 8:30
a.m. to carpool. Contact the trip leader Gary Piazzon (email) 360-678-5131.
Thursday, Jun 14, 2012: Meeting
Bird in the Hand. Coupeville Recreation Hall (map). Doors open at 7 pm, meeting at 7:15, program at 7:30. Please bring a mug for coffee. Carpool
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Whidbey Audubon Society
PO Box 1012
Oak Harbor,Washington 98277
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