Subject: day and a half at Samish
Date: Dec 2 20:29:10 1996
From: jbroadus at seanet.com - jbroadus at seanet.com


Wednesday was too crummy, but Thursday (Turkey day) afternoon and all day
Friday were good experiences at Skagit-Samish flats. On Thursday while
hiking the dike trail along Padilla Bay Clarice noticed two male Eurasian
wigeons in a large mixed flock of mallard, pintail, and wigeons in one of the
flooded fields behind the dike. Also northern shrike and rough legs. Fir
Island was flooded with Trumpeters, and there were six snowies at the west 90
below Samish Island. One was surely the same heavily barred immature that
Dennis mentioned, hanging in close to the road and light enough to sit on a
drive in the ground fence post like a rough leg will do.

Friday went by the same 90 several times and the same (I'm sure) owl became
the most looked at snowie in Western Wash, by spending the whole day on top
of the barns right at the bend in the road. Along with the usual complement
of eagles, red tails, harriers and so forth got some good looks at a
beautiful female peregrine with two leg bands ("ER" on the one marked with
large letters) hangin out on the power poles. Also watched another, smaller
peregrine, no bands, with a much more complete hood and what looked like a
hurt foot make several stoops, until it was freaked by three approaching
eagles. Two merlins and two kestrels; many short eared owls; alas still no
gyr. Went back to the spot we saw a long eared owl a while back, and learned
it had been hit by a car.

At nightfall we went back to the west 90 while the hunters were hauling out
their decoys and the owls were becoming more than white lumps. Watched
snowie one upmanship, as one owl would displace another from fence posts,
with appropriate screams. The young owl on the barn became very active,
taking many flights to the ground, swooping back up to the top of the barns
using a flight pattern that seemed to catch currents of the wind as it
whipped over one of the building roofs. As it tried to catch the peak it
would often miss and you could hear its talons scrape like chalk on an old
blackboard on the metal roof. Occasional screech, as well. Finally, as it
got almost too dark to see and the last pair of hunters stayed and chatted,
some large flocks of wigeons whistled in on the wind and began filling up the
fields all along the road. The owl got more active, and we finally lost it
in the dark as it left the barn and began working its way along the fence out
to the dike. It got really cold, the hunters left, and so did we.
-------------------------------------
Name: Jerry Broadus
jbroadus at seanet.com
901-16th. St S.W.
Puyallup, Wa. 98371
206-845-3156
12/02/96
20:29:10