Nature Watch: The Loons of Deception Pass

About the author: Steve Ellis is a naturalist and Land Trust member who enjoys sharing his love of the natural world. His blog series, “Nature Watch,” will appear each month in “Habitchat,” chronicling native plants and wildlife you can expect to see during that particular time of year. We thank Steve for sharing his passion, illustrating the importance of island conservation.

Overview

There are many significant bird gatherings in northwest Washington. Skagit Valley farmland is blanketed by wintering flocks of Snow Geese and those same fields also attract Trumpeter and Tundra Swans. Bald Eagles swarm the late salmon run on the Skagit River, and the Samish flats host many raptor species.

An overlooked phenomenon is the annual gathering of Red-throated Loons at Deception Pass. In January, hundreds of these hungry birds gather at the pass to feed on smelt and other fish.

Red-throated Loons are the smallest loon species, reaching a length of 26 inches. This time of year, they are darkish above and pale below. The red that colors their throats during the breeding season is absent.

These slender birds can be thought of as the “aristocrats” of loons. They point their bills above the horizontal. I’m always reminded of the iconic photographs of Franklin D. Roosevelt with his cigarette holder tilted upwards and clenched in his teeth.

A person who has timed the flocking correctly can stand on the very northwest tip of Whidbey Island and watch the scores of loons fly into the pass from the southwest, west and northwest. The loons land near the bridge and dive underwater to pursue fish as the nine mile-per-hour current pushes them westward. The birds can achieve a couple of dives before having to fly back towards the bridge again to repeat the process.

Red-throated Loons aren’t the only birds involved in this feeding frenzy. There are always a few Common Loons, cormorants, grebes, mergansers and guillemots mixed in.

Finding the right time can be complicated. Veteran birders usually say the action starts 45 minutes to one hour before high tide in Port Townsend. Consulting a tide chart is a must, but luck is also involved.

The best access is via the West Beach parking lot on the Whidbey side of Deception Pass State Park. The lot has been reopened after last winter’s damaging storm. Pick a day with little or no wind and bring binoculars.  The loons are essentially grayish birds on gray water, so optics are helpful.

A boat may motor under the bridge, putting the birds up in flight, and you may see a hundred or more flying back out to the sound. They ‘ll settle on the water until the perceived threat has passed and then initiate flights back into the pass.

Sadly, the numbers of loons have dwindled in recent years. Bird counts in the 1990s tallied over a thousand loons. Now the counts are in the low to mid-hundreds, but it’s still worthwhile to spend an hour or so watching the loons funnel into Deception Pass. This is a more subtle bird event than the in-your-face spectacle of thousands of brilliantly white snow geese on a brown field, yet it’s another facet of nature’s winter repertoire.

By mid-February, the loon numbers shrink. A couple of months later almost all of the birds will have departed for their breeding grounds in Alaska and Canada, leaving Deception Pass a quieter place.

Surf smelt make up for their small size by the impact they have on the marine environment. Photo by Martha Ellis. 

Fauna: Surf Smelt (Hypomesus pretiosus)

The main attraction for the Deception Pass loons is the population of surf smelt.

These slender fish are six to nine inches in length and have tiny silvery scales. The back is bluish-green and the sides and belly are silver. A darker stripe runs the length of the body at the middle.

Surf smelt eat a variety of plankton including copepods, amphipods and krill. Larval fish are also consumed.

Spawning takes place at various times around Greater Puget Sound. Favored sites are those beaches shaded by large trees or boulders. Hoypus Point, the destination of many fish traversing Deception Pass, has an abundance of large trees.

Female smelt prefer to lay eggs in the upper tidal zone in a few inches of water at slack tide. These sites must have sand, small gravel or a mix of the two. Smelt roe adheres to the particles, with hatching occurring in two to five weeks. Colder water can delay hatching for up to three months. The young smelt stay close to shore while they grow. Most start reproducing in one to two years.

Surf smelt do not form distinct, large schools as do Pacific herring. Deception Pass, however, requires them to funnel together, making them easier targets for fish-eating birds.

Many bird species feed on surf smelt, as do harbor seals, Dall’s porpoise, river otters and sea lions.

It can be difficult to see surf smelt, although they spawn along most of Camano Island beaches and those of Whidbey’s east side. Your best bet is to watch the anglers jigging for them from docks such as those found at Cornet Bay.

Surf smelt make up for their small size by the impact they have on the marine environment. No wonder their species name pretiosus means “of great value” or “precious”.

Shore pines are found along the coast, usually in places with little competition from other conifers. Photo by Martha Ellis.

Flora: Shore Pine (Pinus contorta var. contorta)

If you watch the loons at Deception Pass, be sure to look for specimens of shore pines growing near the parking lot.

This conifer species has a split personality. As lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), the species covers 15 million acres of western North America. It develops a straight trunk and a small crown. Lodgepoles often form thick monoculture stands that are described as “dog hair.”

Shore pines (Pinus contorta var. contorta), on the other hand, are found along the coast, usually in places with little competition from other conifers. Their trunks are often contorted and they may have spreading crowns. Some branches may bend downward towards the ground.

Shore pine is a relatively short-lived species compared to firs, cedars and spruce trees. They reach heights of 20 to 35 feet and have two-inch needles that grow in pairs. The needles often bend upward and may have yellowish tips. The scaly bark is grayish brown.

The two-inch cones are intriguing. Some are serotinous, meaning they will only open from the heat of a wildfire, while other cones open conventionally.

Shore pines inhabit dunes, bogs and rocky hills. They tolerate low nutrient sites and can handle salt spray. Their twisty branches offer concealment for bird nests and their roots stabilize sand dunes.

New needles are browsed by deer. The tiny seeds are eaten by squirrels, deer mice and crossbills, a species of finch.

Shore pines have been used extensively in landscaping. Naturally-occurring specimens can be found along Whidbey Island’s west side and in Camano Island State Park.

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