Hello Carol and tweeters,
I think i can write a book about with all my adventures finding birds and
expecial Dragonflies.I look down now and could shake my head how i ever
taken so many chances.Starting in September 1992 where i birded alone in Mt
Rainierto 2.00 AM all alone in the dark to get my first look at a Boreal
Owl.Thinking back on this experience alone make me shiver.And all the falls
in to the mud,standing on a smal board of wood cause i lost my balance
ending up in deep mudy water,on the same place comming in close contact with
a big Moose.On and on it goes.
We birded last Sunday starting at 6.30AM on Jensen Exit only to find out,how
the saftest way to get on to the mudflats.I returned back to soon after a
while,but three of the birders including Patrick made it way out there.I
noticed after passing close to the dike,it gets good and you have no trouble
at all waking way out.Personaly i come to the conclusion that i love Ocean
Shores,Bottle Beach,Tokland and Ledbetter Point so much better.This alone
sitting on the Jetty you can see quite few nice species.And all the birds
you can view almost close (the whole bird) not only part of there little
bodies which are found in this large groovy plowed fields.And than there is
the traffic going to Federal way ,South Center,Seattle and Everett.So dont
feel so bad by you experience not seeing many birds.We would never birded
that area if the Jetty Island trip was canceled that day.We was plain lucky
that we hit a good day.Where out you can see 53 Black-legged Kittiwake close
range on the Ocean beaches

Ruth Sullivan
----- Original Message -----
From: Lynn & Carol Schulz <linusq at worldnet.att.net>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Monday, August 20, 2001 12:25 PM
Subject: Re: Birding Skagit Flats,my version


> Tweeters:
> Beth's description is hilarious. What's a gas hawk?
> Now here is my experience at Fir Island (which is the south part of the
> Skagit Flats).
> A couple of weeks ago I started reading reports that there might be some
> good shorebirds (rarities, even) on the flats at Fir Island, at the Jensen
> Access. So instead of heading south to Ocean Shores, I headed north to
the
> Conway exit and out to Fir Island. It was late morning, and after a few
> wrong turns, I finally made it to the correct access. I was all alone. I
> put on my knee-high rubber boots, packed a day pack, and my scope, and
tried
> to head straight out toward the mud flats. In the distance I could see
some
> gulls, Mallards, and GBH's. No shorebirds. There were grasses on the
flats
> below the dike and it got to be watery mud. One of my boots got sucked
off.
> Whoa, maybe I should have worn hip waders. These boots were not going to
be
> adequate. Then I almost fell in. I had to pick my way very carefully
from
> grass bunch, to grass bunch, and I still didn't get very far out from the
> dike. It was a LOT more work than anywhere at Ocean Shores and I was only
> able to see Greater Yellowlegs and some Dowitchers at a great distance.
As
> I came back up to the dike, east of the access, some farmer yelled at me
> because that part of the dike is private property. (No sign, it had been
> knocked down.) Oh, brother.
> When I got back to the parking lot, some good birder folks told me a
> birdwatching woman somewhere in the world had DIED walking in mud when she
> got sucked down into it. Whew. They then took me to the Skagit City
dairy
> pond on Moore Road, so I learned where that was, and we saw Lesser
> Yellowlegs there. The day was not totally wasted. Then it started to
rain,
> and I headed home.
> I was told later that you can get on the dike at the main Skagit Wildlife
> Area, turning off on Wiley Road from Fir Is Rd (this is where people go to
> see Sparrows in the winter). Apparently you can walk way out on the dike
> there to view the flats. (All of these areas require the Access
Stewardship
> Sticker available at sporting goods stores.)
> I think I will have to ask some more questions about viewing the Fir
Island
> mud flats before I ever try it again. How do folks do it? What do they
> wear? Do they put on hip waders? Is there a better place for folks like
me
> to walk out on the dike at Fir Island? Has anyone died, yet? ;-)
> Yours, Carol Schulz
> DesMoines
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <Calliopehb at aol.com>
> > Here's the highlighter of what we saw.
> > Brown stripy things (Sp.)
> > Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz in the bush (Heard) (Sp.)
> > Gas Hawk (Sp.)
> > Beth Thompson
> > Arlington, WA
> >
>