Surf Scoters
Surf Scoters used to arrive this time of year by the 100’s. They pass through in the fall and spring and stay here a few weeks. I have not seen the huge groups of Surf Scoters for a few years. But I did see a lone Surf Scoter the other
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Goldeneyes
A small group of goldeneyes arrived yesterday. They will now stay all winter. They have arrived as early as Oct 26 in 2012 but usually arrive in mid November. Beautiful black and white ducks that often are here with the also beautiful black and white Buffleheads.
Buffleheads have arrived
Buffleheads are my favorite winter visitors. They arrive in November although I have seen them this early (late October) a few other times. They are always in a group of 5 to 10 ducks and are here every day until spring. Buffleheads are very playful and always fun to see.
Lots of ducks
Ducks are parading by in increasing numbers these days. The small group of Common Mergansers grew to about 25 ducks and yesterday over 100 of them paraded by. I do usually these the Merganser parades of this size. Always a treat. And the Cormorants have been coming by in a
Wood Ducks
Probably the most exotic of the local ducks, Wood ducks, are seen only on fresh water. So I do not see them in my salt water bay. I saw them locally for the first time last fall on a nearby pond at Tallman Park. They were around for most of
Mergansers are right on schedule
Common Mergansers and Red Breasted Mergansers are here every fall. The Red Breasted Mergansers arrived last week. I saw a group of 20 or 30 fly by and land down near the creek. I have seen them as early as Oct 1 but usually see them around the 15th so
About jansbird
I am a retired teacher. I taught high school physics and for the last 16 years was a high school principal. In my first 10 years of retirement I taught part-time at the University of Puget Sound and ran a small non-profit school reform shop called Coalition of Essential Schools Northwest. At UPS I taught teachers how to be principals and at CES Northwest I helped schools implement the principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools, a national school reform program. Now I am really retired and pursuing my other interests full time. I have always been interested in natural history, the identification of living things. My formal science training is in Physics. I have very little formal education in nature but I have always enjoyed nature and living outside and being interested in what I see there. I like water and beaches and over the years have learned about most of the creatures found there. My interest in birds started by watching herons and ducks at my family cabin on Whidbey Island. That led to learning to identify other kinds of birds. I now know most of the local birds. When I moved to Gig Harbor I began keeping a log of the ducks and birds I saw coming and going. This blog is primarily to publish the data collected in those logs.
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