Can AI Improve Your Birding?
I am someone who haven’t used the new AI chatbots much, but I have been curious about how they might be useful in the things I do. So when I read in the Summer 2026 Avocet (from Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance) about how Matthew Dodder (an old friend and birding mentor) decided to try AI as a tool to plan some birding trips, I figured I’d try out Claude and see if it would give me useful suggestions.
I asked Claude two questions:
I am planning a "big day" birding outing for Kitsap county, washington in June and would like advice on the best way to maximize number of species
What are the best accessible birding locations in kitsap county washington for someone with limited mobility
Here are edited versions of what Claude gave me — editing is because each response was very, very detailed.
The Big Day
Kitsap County Big Day Birding Hotspots
Point No Point County Park: Top priority — IBA, marine + wetland habitat, shorebirds, loons, pigeon guillemots, osprey
Foulweather Bluff Preserve: Tidal wetland + forest to beach — good for secretive marsh birds and seabirds
Buck Lake County Park: Osprey nest in summer, forest/lake habitat, linked to Hansville Greenway
Kitsap Memorial State Park: 250+ species recorded, mixed forest + shoreline, overlook platform
Scenic Beach State Park: Hood Canal shoreline — great for loons, grebes, and forest songbirds near water
Illahee State Park: Old-growth forest + pier — woodpeckers, nuthatches, marine birds
Newberry Hill Heritage Park: I nterior forest habitat — owls, woodpeckers, thrushes, warblers
Great, here's a comprehensive guide for your Kitsap County big day!
Kitsap County Big Day — June Strategy Guide
June is a fantastic month for a big day here. You're past peak spring migration, but breeding birds are in full song, and you still get lingering late migrants plus resident year-round species. Kitsap's 236 miles of saltwater shoreline give it more marine habitat than any other county in the lower 48 states, and it's regularly visited by more than 200 species — so there's real potential for an impressive count.
The Core Strategy: Hit Multiple Habitat Types
The key to a high big-day count is habitat diversity. In Kitsap, that means combining marine/shoreline, wetland, and interior forest stops. Don't spend all day on one habitat.
The Hotspot Circuit (roughly north-to-south)
Stop 1 — Start before dawn: Newberry Hill Heritage Park (interior forest) Get there at first light for the dawn chorus. This is your best chance at owls (Great Horned, Barred), Pileated Woodpecker, thrushes (Swainson's, Hermit, Varied), and warblers like MacGillivray's and Orange-crowned in the brushy edges.
Stop 2 — Morning: The Hansville Cluster (north tip of the peninsula) This is the crown jewel of the day. Spend 2–3 hours working through all three linked sites:
Point No Point County Park tops most local birders' lists. Its wetlands and shoreline are vital stopovers along the Pacific Flyway, and tidal eddies create nutrient upwellings that attract bait fish and birds by the thousands. It's recognized as a National Audubon Important Bird Area. In June expect Pigeon Guillemots, loons, grebes, Osprey, shorebirds, and the rose/blackberry thickets are alive with smaller birds.
Norwegian County Park offers similar marine views across Admiralty Inlet — rafts of birds wander between the two, so it's worth checking both.
Buck Lake County Park, linked by the Hansville Greenway, is where Ospreys nest in the summer. The lake and trails add freshwater and forest species.
Stop 3 — Mid-morning: Foulweather Bluff Preserve This Nature Conservancy site is poorly marked and offers limited parking, but ambitious birders are rewarded with great birds and views. It offers a rare combination of tidal wetland, old cedar forest, and sandy beach in one short walk — great for secretive marsh species and seabirds.
Stop 4 — Late morning: Kitsap Memorial State Park (near Poulsbo) Over 250 bird species have been recorded here, including bald eagles, seabirds, owls, hawks, hummingbirds, ducks, and songbirds. The Kitsap Memorial Overlook offers a great vantage point to spot and count species across grassy and wooded habitats.
Stop 5 — Afternoon: Scenic Beach State Park (Hood Canal) The Hood Canal shoreline is a completely different environment from Puget Sound — calmer water, and often different species. Good for loons, grebes, mergansers, and forest species in the adjacent trees. Bald Eagles are reliable.
Stop 6 — Late afternoon: Illahee State Park (Bremerton) Old-growth forest plus a dock on Puget Sound. In June, look for Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creepers, woodpeckers, and marine species off the pier.
Tactical Tips
Start at 4:30–5 AM at your forest site — June days are long and light comes early. The dawn chorus is your single biggest species-adding opportunity.
Check eBird in the week before your big day using the "Explore" > "Bar Charts" tool for Kitsap County in June — it'll show exactly which species are peaking.
Use the Kitsap Audubon Society resources: they publish a county bird checklist and recommend the Merlin app for field ID, which includes a "Find Birds with eBird" feature powered by Cornell Lab. Kitsapaudubon
Plan a dusk stop back at a forest edge or wetland for Common Nighthawk, owls, and any waterfowl commuting to roost.
Watch for late shorebirds — southbound shorebird migration actually begins in late June/early July, so you may catch early southbound species on the mudflats.
Accessible Birding
1. Port Orchard Waterfront / Bay Street Pathway
The Bay Street Pedestrian Pathway is a smooth, paved route hugging Sinclair Inlet, with scenic views of Bremerton, ferry traffic, and wildlife. AllTrails rates it as likely accessible for visitors using wheelchairs, mobility equipment, or strollers. The marina lot includes three wheelchair-accessible parking spaces. In winter, you can expect thousands of White-winged Scoters, American Wigeons, and Western Grebes in the open bay.
2. Point No Point County Park, Hansville (top birding in Kitsap)
Point No Point tops most lists of Kitsap's best birding locations, with 60.8 acres of wetlands and shoreline that are vital stopovers for birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway. Tidal eddies create an upwelling of nutrients that attract schools of bait fish, salmon, and birds by the thousands. The park is wheelchair-friendly, with parking lots and restrooms. One reviewer notes they take a wheelchair user there regularly and recommends calling ahead so you can drive all the way in to the beach — a helpful tip since the main lot has some storm-damage closures currently. Regulars spot bald eagles, ospreys, and seals frequently.
3. Hansville Greenway / Buck Lake County Park
Right near Point No Point, this is a great inland complement. The mile-long Alder Wetland Trail is suitable for wheelchairs and strollers, and the greenway features wetlands, forest, beaver ponds, and the shoreline at Buck Lake. There's ample parking, seasonal restrooms, and picnic tables at the Buck Lake County Park entrance. Reviewers describe it as full of birds in the wetlands — a good spot for songbirds, woodpeckers, and waterfowl.
4. Liberty Bay Waterfront Park, Poulsbo
A flat, paved boardwalk with wildlife habitat views. Reviewers specifically mention birdwatching as a highlight, and the park sits right in downtown Poulsbo with restrooms, benches, and cafes steps away — making it easy to take breaks. Great for herons, ducks, and shorebirds on the bay.
5. Kitsap Memorial State Park, Hood Canal
This 63-acre park offers 1,797 feet of shoreline on Hood Canal and is excellent for loons, grebes, and waterfowl in the cooler months. It's a short, manageable walk from the parking area to the water. Note that a Discover Pass is required.
A few tips for limited-mobility birding in Kitsap:
Bring a scope or binoculars — many of the best birds (scoters, loons, grebes) are offshore and you can see them perfectly from a car window or paved viewpoint.
Winter (Nov–Mar) is prime time for marine birds all along the shoreline sites.
Call Point No Point ahead (360-337-5350) to arrange closer vehicle access to the beach.
Kitsap Audubon Society is a great local resource and offers guided field trips — they're generally very welcoming to birders of all mobility levels.
My Take on These Suggestions
So, what do I think? At first glance, both of these answers seem well thought out and reasonable, but something felt off with both and I had to think about it for a while before I realized what was bothering me.
Both guides recommend birding at Kitsap Memorial State Park, which is a place I’ve never birded, and while I watch the reports from other birders, I couldn’t think of a time I’d seen another birder reporting in from there. I went and checked the eBird reports for that location and it was birded as part of the winter CBC in January, and then there are only six reports since — so, effectively, none of the birders that check in on eBird bird this location. Has Claude found a great birding location no birding in Kitsap knows about? The CBC check in has 38 species on it, all fairly common/typical for this region and nothing I’d consider special, but as a place to perhaps load up on easy species on a big day, it’s not bad.
I was also a bit surprised as Scenic Beach State Park, which is out of the way compared to the other locations, and I’ve birded it a few times and it’s not super high on my must-bird list. It averages half a dozen check-ins a month, so it’s birded a lot more than Kitsap Memorial, and some birders have reported 30ish species there, but the overlap in species with Kitsap Memorial is huge. I don’t see any reason to bird both in a big day.
The other recommendations are okay, although I’m not sure I’d choose Ilahee State Park over other, similar locations like Bremerton’s Rotary park.
Overall, I think this is an okay, but not great, set of big day recommendations.
What about the accessible birding suggestions? Overall, I think it’s pretty good. Again, I’m curious why Claude put Kitsap Memorial on the list, because the “real” birders here in the county certainly don’t agree — not having birded the place myself, I can’t say, but it sure doesn’t feel like a hidden gem to me. I can’t really speak to how accessible it is, either, but it’s on my list to check out in the next week or so (and amusingly, it’s literally something I pass when I’m driving to Hansville and Point No Point, so it’s not out of the way or hard to get to)
I would not suggest the Buck Lake location, either. It is ADA complaint but the paths are quite hilly and in a few places steep. Not a place someone who’s walking limited or in a wheelchair is likely to feel comfortable. But the other locations are definitely good locations.
After some consideration, I’ll give the Big Day recommendations a grade of C+. It’s not terrible, but it’s not great, either. The Accessible birding recommendations probably get a B, or a B-. Would I follow these recommendations myself? I’d start with them but I’d likely make some changes to both. I really want to go out and bird Kitsap Memorial once or twice to get a feel for it before kicking it off the lists, but I’m not convinced it’s a hidden gem.
There are some interesting missing spots as well; I think the Port Gamble area would be on my list for both guides, for instance.
I’ll also note that June is not the month I’d do a big day in — this area is a much better birding region in the winter, so sometime in December into March would be my choice, and a big day listing for that time of year would be notably different than one for summer.
Overall, the results I have here indicate that these AI tools seem to be decent starting points, but I would definitely spend some time comparing it to the data in eBird and make some changes based on the popularity (or lack of it) seen in where the birders are birding.
