Sunday March 12: Kris Baker, Sandra Woods and I spent much of the day on the
flats.

A turkey vulture was over Bayview-Edison Rd, halfway from Hiway 20 to
Bayview, along with a krider's red-tail; Kris and I were ready to call the
buteo a rough legged hawk, but Sandra vehemently declared it a krider's red
tail. When it flew we got a good look at the red tail; while perched we were
struck by its pale head and light underside and the feet showed bright
yellow up the tarsi.

West Darcy Rd had a pair of kestrels, and another was up the hill to the
south, behind the interpretive center.

At the west 90 we had good looks at rough legged hawks and harriers, but no
short eared owls. Sandra spotted a distant peregrine to the NW, and later we
drove toward Edison and had a great close-up view as it nearly flew across
our hood as we approached the Samish River. It abruptly pulled up and sat on
a telephone pole about 100 feet away, and then launched into a brisk low
level attack on the hundreds of wigeons and mallards in the fields to the
SE. Ducks hysterically scattered and splashed in a progressing path about a
half mile long as the falcon sped about 10 feet high over the fields. That
was the highlight of our day.

A peregrine sat on the beach off of Maupin Rd on Fir Island, and we may have
gotten a glimpse of a merlin chasing one of the many flocks of dunlin. But
Fir Island was relatively quiet compared to a few weeks ago, with fewer snow
geese in our sights. A sizeable flock was just west of Wylie Rd, perhaps 3-4
thousand. We expected the Skagit North Fork access to provide us ample views
of harriers and short eared owls, but we saw no owls at all and just one or
two distant harriers, along with two red tails and a few eagles.

The day went well with little wind or rain and enough sightings to keep
things lively, but then Kris discovered her field notebook was missing. Most
likely it was dropped somewhere between the west 90 and Edison, or perhaps
west 90 and the road north to Alice Bay. It's a little black book,
hard-bound, about 4x6 inches, with field notes going back many years. We
searched just before dark, and then we gave up. If anyone happens to find
it, Kris would love to get it back!

Kevin Li
Seattle, WA
e-mail: kevin.li at metrokc.gov