Winter 2025-2026 Birding Highlights

This winter I was able to get out and see some really exciting birds. On my way from Bellingham to Seattle, to visit my family for Christmas, I made a quick detour to the Tulalip marina to attempt to find the Rock Sandpiper that had been seen for several years there.

The winds were high and causing my fingers to go numb holding my binoculars, but after a short time scanning the flocks of Dunlin and Black Turnstone I spotted an out of place sandpiper with a conspicuous downturned bill, my lifer Rock Sandpiper!

Dunlin flock.

Rock Sandpiper

While staying in Seattle I headed south to Kent to look for a Harris's Sparrow that had been seen recently. This is a species that shows up regularly in small numbers to western Washington each winter, but had evaded me in previous years. The sparrow had been spotted in the back yard of an abandoned property, so I spent the first day scanning the bushes behind the house. While I didn't find the Harris's Sparrow, there were plenty of Lincoln's Sparrows, Song Sparrows, an unexpected Savannah Sparrow, multiple Slaty Juncos and tons of raptors.

Cooper's Hawk

White-crowned Sparrow (left) and Savannah Sparrow (right).

Northern Harrier with prey.

Lincoln's Sparrow

On my second day I quickly found an incredibly cool bird I'd been wanting to see for a long time. As I was scanning for the Harris's Sparrow, another birder pointed out the Barn Owl right above me in the abandoned barn (appropriately). This was my lifer and an amazing place to see it! Eventually I spotted the Harris's Sparrow deep in a bush, but after a short while it flew behind the house where I was able to get great views in a large blackberry bush. A Black Phoebe capped off the day as I headed back to my car. What a great day of birding!

Barn Owl!

Dark-eyed Junco

Lincoln's Sparrow

Harris's Sparrow deep in the bushes.

Lifer Harris's Sparrow!

American Kestrel

Black Phoebe

For the new year I visited Smith Rock State Park and got to see plenty of Townsend's Solitaires, a gorgeous pale gray thrush species, Rock Wrens, and also lots of raptors, although the focus of the trip was climbing.

Townsend's Solitaire

Rock Wren

Canada Geese

After the new year I'd seen reports of a first Canada record of Taiga Flycatcher, and despite my busy class schedule, this was far too rare of a bird to pass up. I headed up with Emily early on Jan 9th and we arrived at the park it had been spotted in around 9am. We made our way to the spot it had last been seen, stopping briefly to admire the flocks of Barrow's Goldeneyes along the shore. As we walked down the sidewalk, we noticed a small bird moving towards us in the lowest tree branches. The flight pattern immediately stood out, and a quick glance through my binoculars confirmed that it was the Taiga Flycatcher. We watched it for a while as it foraged in the park, before leaving it to its business.

Female Taiga Flycatcher

After this trip I got busy with classes, but was still able to make it out a few times. Some highlights included great views of Long-tailed Ducks in Bellingham Bay, flocks of Bushtits crowding my suet feeder, and an incredible winter roost of American Crows in front of Mt. Baker.

Long-tailed Duck

Bushtits

American Crows descending on a roost site.

Ring-billed Gulls in front of the Twin Sisters.

The last really exciting bird this winter showed up in Canada. A Glaucous Gull was spotted in the Fraser Valley earlier in the winter, but in February it showed up just across the border in Sumas, WA. While Canada is easy enough to visit for birding, this made it an even more appealing bird to look for. I've had a fascination with gulls for the past few years and this was a species I'd been really hoping to find since one showed up in Burlington in 2023. I was fighting off a cold, but I bundled up and drove nearly to the Canadian border. While I expected it to be a challenge, it turns out that a giant, stark-white gull tends to stand out even when mixed in with a large flock of Glaucous-winged Gulls. I was able to observe it for almost an hour, and came back a week later to find it with Emily. We both got great views of the gull.