Hello Tweets,

Today the juv. female EURASIAN KESTREL was present mainly after 10am by
most birders, and my mother and I, just north of Bow, Skagit Co., and west
of MP 8 along Chuckanut Drive(Hwy.11)in a private duck club field, after
permission was obtained by George Gerdts. The bird was seen by a few
birders earlier in the morning to the east of Chuckanut Drive, but the most
sightings were made in the field west of the highway as the bird persued
prey, as it hovered and dropped to the ground on several occasions as seen
in flight, as well as on ground dirt mounds during the AM, then at 3pm was
seen along the dike, bordering Samish Bay, as it was approached at a close
distance of 10 feet, before it was unexpectedly flushed to a perch further
south along the dike, after it flew over the bay briefly, before returning
to the mainland. Although there was local hunting activity today, the bird
seemed tolerable of the presence of the noise, but seemed somewhat wary of
close approach by birders. The bird seemed to hunt quite regular, despite
the constant wind, and light showers at times. An article was in the local
Skagit Valley Herald of the bird today with a 1 photo of the bird, and
placed on front page. Other notables species in the general area included:

2 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS
2 PEREGRINE FALCONS
2 MERLINS
* 1 LESSER YELLOWLEGS: somewhat late date, but not to be entirely
unexpected(present along Chuckanut Drive during the AM, in a flooded
depression in the field, west of the highway, at close range)
1 SHORT-EARED OWL
1 NORTHERN SHRIKE
3 AM.PIPITS
2 SAVANNAH SPARROWS


Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net