That's a great day's birding! Couldn't get out of the store in LaConner
until after 6:00pm, so we headed directly up to the Samish Flats for any
encounters that might happen. Just before the road turned north towards
Bayview we watched a Peregrine attack unsuccessfully a group of Wigeons and
then land on top of a tree where we had a great well-lit look at this
marvelous hunter. Just after coming down into the Samish Flats, we watched
a Redtail take a vole and fly with it. We got over to the west 90 and
watched Harriers, Redtails, Eagles, and Rough-legged hawks flying about.
Struck out on Short-eared. Looking across the field facing Mt. Baker we saw
two Eurasian Wigeons in a group of perhaps less than a hundred. As we
watched one of the Eurasians, it was suddenly knocked into the water near
it. A Peregrine from seemingly nowhere had knocked it down but latched onto
an American Wigeon next to the Eurasian and proceeded to brutally dismantle
it as we watched in an almost morbid fascination. When the Peregrine was
finished, the Wigeon was only a pile of feathers, and the Peregrine took
flight and put on a wonderful ariel display for us. By then it was dark,
and our short little excursion was over. The Skagit/Samish area is
remarkable, and I feel fortunate to be there every day. I looked for the
Mountain Bluebird unsuccessfully again this morning, but I believe I got a
look at a Western Kingbird and a Meadowlark. Who knows what the rest of
Spring and Summer will bring!

>From: Hughbirder at aol.com
>Reply-To: Hughbirder at aol.com
>To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
>Subject: Stilliguamish, Skagit and Samish Flats
>Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2000 00:14:02 EST
>
>Red-necked Grebe
>Eleven of us birded the subject areas on Sat. field trip. We had a total of
>64 species as follows:
>
>Horned Grebe
>Western Grebe
>Double-crested Cormorant
>Pelagic Cormorant
>Ruddy Duck
>Trumpeter Swan
>Tundra Swan
>Snow Goose - at least 10,000 along Boe Road **
>Canada Goose
>Eurasian Wigeon - 1 found among the AMWI
>American Wigeon - 2-3,000 along Boe Road
>Gadwall
>Green-winged Teal
>Mallard
>Northern Pintail
>Northern Shoveler
>Canvasback - 1 at Stanwood Ponds
>Ring-necked Duck
>Lesser Scaup
>Harlequin Duck - 8+ at Samish Bay
>Oldsquaw (Long-tailed Duck) - 3
>Surf Scoter
>Common Goldeneye
>Bufflehead
>Red-breasted Merganser
>Common Merganser
>Great Blue Heron
>Bald Eagle - 14
>Northern Harrier - 6
>Red-tailed Hawk - 21
>Rough-legged Hawk - 5
>American Kestrel - 1
>American Coot
>Dunlin
>Black-bellied Plover
>Killdeer - one on a nest at edge of West 90 gravel parking area
>Mew Gull
>Ring-billed Gull
>Glaucous-winged Gull
>Western Gull
>Pigeon Guillemot
>Pacific Loon
>Common Loon
>Rock Dove
>Northern Flicker
>Steller's Jay
>American Crow
>Common Raven
>American Robin
>European Starling
>Bewick's Wren
>Tree Swallow
>Violet-green Swallow
>Black-capped Chickadee
>Chestnut-backed Chickadee
>House Sparrow
>Pine Siskin
>Song Sparrow
>Lincoln's Sparrow
>White-crowned Sparrow
>Savannah Sparrow
>Red-winged Blackbird
>Brewer's Blackbird
>
>** We could read the neck bands on three of the SNGO. One green band had 10
>&
>CE. Two red bands, one had 6 & XY and the other 3 & =.
>
>Hugh Jennings
>Bellevue, WA
>hughbirder at aol.com

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