Breeding Bird Survey, Lopez Island, 17 June 2012

David and I rose at 04:30 for the Breeding Bird Survey. The sky was mostly cloudy, and the wind very light. American Robins sang loudly. We drove to the start point at Upright Head and began the survey at 05:05. The sun was starting to break through the clouds and the wind picked up slightly in the more open areas. David was the observer, I the recorder. (The BBS protocol states that only one person should observe to minimize individual bias.) David counted every bird he heard and saw in a 3-minute period at each stop.

I won't describe the entire route in detail, but here are the basics: Upright Head Preserve, south on Ferry Road to Fisherman's Bay Road, east on Cross Road to south on Port Stanley Road, west on Hummel Lake Road to south on Center Road (we tried to avoid this main road as much as possible), east and south on Lopez Sound Road to west on School Road, north on Center Road to west on Dill Road, south on Fisherman's Bay Road to west on Airport Road, south on Shark Reef Road to west on Burt Road, north on Davis Bay Road to east on Fisherman Bay Road, south on Kjargaard Road to Richardson Road, east on Vista Road to Mud Bay Road, south on MacKaye Harbor Road to east, then north on Aleck Bay Road, northeast on Mud Bay Road to the last point at the junction of Cape St Mary Road, for a total of 50 points over 24.5 miles.
We saw 61 species of birds and 692 individuals. The highlight was seeing Bushtits at two stops, a species we'd been looking for on the island since we started coming in 2009. At Stop 7, just east of the junction between Fisherman Bay and Cross Roads, we saw one Bushtit in the mixed forest across from the horse farm. We also saw our first Eurasian Collared-Dove on the island on a utility wire overlooking the farm. (I learned later from Monica Wieland's "A Guide to the Birds of San Juan Island" that these non-natives were first recorded in the islands in 2005, but didn't become established until 2010.) We heard and saw a second Bushtit at Stop 40 along Vista Road west of the junction with Mud Bay Road, in an area of hedgerows backed by farm pastures.
We also saw at least 12 Columbian Black-tailed Deer along the route. Orange Honeysuckle bloomed, as did a few roses, but most of the latter were past their peak. We finished the survey at 10:08 under cloudy (broken) skies, and a temperature of about 56 degrees F. Wind had increased, especially in the open areas, to moving small branches.

Posted on August 7, 2012 08:09 PM by cbchickadee