Cathy and tweeters,
I saw the same group of turkeys on Dec. 12. They must belong to one of
the neighboring homes. I know of no release of this species in the area as
a game bird, and it would be extremely unlikely habitat.
We saw four falcon species on the Flats: an adult Prairie Falcon and an
American Kestrel along Darcy Rd. (and an adult dark-morph "Harlan's"
Red-tail), a Merlin north of the Breazeale Ctr., and several Peregrines at
different locations. No sign of a Gyrfalcon in the typical haunts of recent
years. Lots of Rough-legged Hawks from Fir Island north to Edison,
including dark and light morphs of both sexes and immature and adult.
Short-eared Owls conspicuous at the West 90 and one along Alice Bay.
Hundreds of Brant north of Samish Is.

Regards, Bob Sundstrom
ixoreus at home.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Wise, Cathy" <cathy.wise at attws.com>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 6:54 AM
Subject: Turkeys? and Other Bird Tales


>
> > Hi Tweets -
> >
> > I've only been bird watching on the Samish Flats for a few years but
this
> > past Saturday we saw something completely new and different. Coming
from
> > Farm to Market Road towards Samish Island in the field kitty-corner to
the
> > pink house there was a small flock of turkeys. We passed by them, did a
> > double take, and turned around to confirm identity. Are there wild
> > turkeys in that area or are these escapees from a farm?
> >
> > Other species of note from the weekend: we saw the Prairie Falcon both
> > days very close up. On Saturday we had 2 Perigrine Falcons and 1
Merlin.
> > On Sunday we had 1 Kestrel Hawk. Bald Eagles, Rough Legged Hawks, Short
> > Eared Owls, Northern Harriers, and many different Red Tail morphs are
> > abundant. There was a large flock of Trumpeter Swans in a field on Holt
> > Road off of Highway 20 on the eastern edge of Burlington. I did not see
> > any Tundra Swans in the flock.
> >
> > Recent feeder sightings - amongst the many, many juncos, sparrows, and
> > finches are quite a few Spotted Towhees and Chickadees. I have a
Flicker
> > visiting the suet on a regular basis. It chased off a starling
yesterday
> > after sitting on the fence and yelling at it for a few minutes. The
most
> > exciting sighting came yesterday when a single Ruby Crowned Kinglet
landed
> > in a tree right outside the window. It came back twice so I was able to
> > confirm it. I don't know if there were more that I couldn't see or if
it
> > was traveling with some of the other birds. I will definitely keep my
eye
> > out for it. This may be a common sighting but not for my backyard so it
> > made my day!
> >
> > That's it. Happy birding!
> >
> Cathy Wise
> Marysville, WA
> cathy.wise at attws.com