Hello Tweets,

Today Dave Hayden, and my mother and I birded mostly Skagit Co. at two
locations, and partially in northern Snohomish Co. at the Stanwood STP,
after we originally attempted to scout Jetty Island, but all ferry schedules
were cancelled for the entire day, as we arrived after 9am at the Everett
waterfront, due to recent poor weather conditions yesterday, eventhough
weather conditions today were quite favorable throughout the day with partly
to mostly sunny skies, with the only rain showers occuring in the morning
driving along I-5 around Mountlake Terrace to the Snohomish Co. line, but
the rest of the day was enjoyable, including NO major wind.

The main highlight of the day was a juvenal STILT SANDPIPER at the Jensen
Access of the Skagit WRA in Skagit Co.,at 2:35pm(incoming tide), as we
watched the bird amongst large numbers of shorebirds, including 220
Long-billed Dowitchers, 35 Lesser Yellowlegs, and 16 Greater Yellowlegs,
among other species, as they foraged along the marshy edges bordering the
southern side of the dike. Due to high tide conditions all shorebird viewing
was made along the dike, mainly east of the parking lot, until we left at
3:30pm. Upon arriving to this location we immediately noticed good numbers
of shorebirds as they searched for feeding/roosting locations south of the
dike, with many being well viewed in the marshy borders along the dike, and
would occasionally fly up, then relocate. We were able to really scour this
location fairly extensively, as the shorebirds allowed close views, being
one of our best locations of day, as far as diversity, as we normally DO NOT
bird north of Everett, but we were interested in all of the recent and past
sightings from this location, and the "West 90 Ponds" near Samish Island,
and by the well published sight guide written by Dave Beaudette in the
Volume#7 Number 2 1999 issue of Washington Birder, as he describes several
additional shorebirding locations within western Skagit Co., along with 2
maps showing exact shorebird locations. We were well pleased to visit 3 of
the 6 shorebird locations that he describes in his sight guide, with the
last location we visited being the "Skagit City/Moore Rd. Pond" at 3:45pm,
which is on private property, but well viewed fom the intersection of both
roads. All these locations offer great shorebirding potential into mid to
late fall, especially the "West 90 Ponds", with 4 out of 7 active ponds
currently noted to have shoreline visible during our extensive visit,
creating shorebird habitat, presumeably being probably best at high tide
from nearby Padilla/Samish Bay, but not exclusively. Despite a
restless,unleashed dog that ran through the first pond southwest of the
parking lot, flushing a shorebird flock, we had a worthwhile visit to this
new personal birding location. Perhaps we will visit these locations more
often in weeks to come, but I-5 traffic(Seattle to Everett) seems to keep us
back.

Our first major stop was made at the Stanwood STP at 10:15pm in northern
Snohomish Co., where we found all the recent sightings by birders, with a
one additional species, being two juvenal RED-NECKED PHALAROPES. We arrived
at the "West 90 Ponds" at 11am, as we walked from pond to pond through the
open fields, checking each pond over for shorebirds,(with 3 out of 4 active
ponds hosting shorebirds), before returning back to the parking lot at
12:30pm, then we drove back south along Bayview-Edison Rd, where we flushed
a Great Horned Owl out from a barn, north of Hwy.20. We arrived at the
Jensen Access of the Skagit WRA at 2pm at incoming tide, and remained
through outgoing tide until 3;30pm, as we greatly enjoyed such good
diversity at this location, as we never intended to get too much upon
arriving, as well as all the other areas during the day. After birding
Jensen Access we made a quick check at the "Skagit City/Moore Rd. Pond" at
3:45pm, on our way back to I-5, before continuing home.

A list of other notable highlights at listed locations includes:

Am.Wigeon
1 female at Port of Everett,Snohomish Co.(SN)
5(2 males,3 females) at Stanwood STP,SN

REDHEAD
2 males at Stanwood STP,SN

Ring-necked Duck
3(1 male,2 females)at Stanwood STP,SN

Lesser Scaup
1 pair with 10 young at the Stanwood STP,SN

Common Merganser
14 females at Port of Everett,SN

Osprey
28 at Port of Everett,SN

Semipalmated Plover
1 at Jensen Access of Skagit WRA,Skagit Co.(SK)

Greater Yellowlegs
1 at Port of Everett,SN
5 at "West 90 Ponds",SK
16 at Jensen Access of Skagit WRA,SK
1 at "Skagit City/Moore Rd. Pond",SK

Lesser Yellowlegs
1 at "West 90 Ponds",SK
35 at Jensen Access of Skagit WRA,SK

SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER
2(1 adult,1 juvenal)at Jensen Access of Skagit WRA,SK

Western Sandpiper
210+ at Jensen Access of Skagit WRA,SK

Least Sandpiper
2 at Port of Everett,SN
2 at "West 90 Ponds",SK
35 at Jensen Access of Skagit WRA,SK
6 at "Skagit City/Moore Rd. Pond",SK

Baird's Sandpiper
1 adult at "West 90 Ponds",SK(photographed and videotaped)
1 at Jensen Access of Skagit WRA,SK

Pectoral Sandpiper
1 adult at Jensen Access of Skagit WRA,SK

Long-billed Dowitcher
15 at "West 90 Ponds",SK
220 at Jensen Access of Skagit WRA,SK
1 at "Skagit/Moore Rd. Pond",SK

Wilson's Phalarope
3 juvenals at "West 90 Ponds",SK
1 juvenal at Jensen Access of Skagit WRA,SK

BANK SWALLOW
1 at Jensen Access of Skagit WRA,SK

A wonderful day of shorebirding in Skagit Co.!

Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net