Well, birding 2 days in a row isn't my usual thing, but it was an exciting
way to use all that time I gained by not reading my e-mail (just kidding,
of course).

Today (Sunday) we had a zero-falcon day, look as we would, on the Samish
Flats. Not really that many hawks around either, fewer harriers and buteos
than I've seen many times before. Maybe all the snow has subdued or
eliminated the voles. But plenty of ducks around, so good for big falcons,
but they didn't show.

However, we did have a 5-shorebird day. Killdeer, Black-bellied Plover,
Common Snipe, Dunlin, and LONG-BILLED CURLEW. One of the latter was with
a big mixed flock of Snow Geese, ducks, gulls, and shorebirds, at the end
of Thomle Road just south of Stanwood. The next road to the south, Boe Rd.,
had a big flock (130+) of Trumpeter Swans, with 5 Tundra Swans at the edge
of it, and a bunch of (Lesser) Canada Geese, perhaps incoming migrants.
On the Skagit Flats there were big flocks of Tundra Swans, with
more Canada Geese mixed in with them, including a few (Cackling) Canadas.
Best goose was a ROSS' GOOSE with a flock of American Wigeon on Bayview-
Edison Road near D'Arcy Road. Look for the big white wigeon.... Also saw
at least 2 female Eurasian Wigeons by looking closely at some of the males
in the big wigeon flocks. 7 male Eurasians in one flock, 4 in another, not
hard to find.
I never find rare birds, so after the 2 nifty gulls Saturday (and
the pure white Mew Gull was much the niftiest) at Nisqually, and the two
rarities today, I've decided that maybe I should go birding more often!