Bill Clark's raptor class being taught today and tomorrow at Brezeale-Padilla Bay had an unusually good field afternoon birding in the flats. First up was a Kestrel going after a Red Tail, and it just got better as the day went on. This with six cars full of people, way too many for one birding group normally but it worked beautifully. Three stops had a number of different birds at those specific sites or about to fly through, so there we were with scopes pointed every which way as people gently bumped into each other looking at different birds. "And here at this scope you can chose to look at the Merlin or the Peregrine since they're only six trees apart" as an Accipiter roars overhead. Ran into Patrick Sullivan and no, Pat, no Gyr today.

BALD EAGLE, various ages
NORTHERN HARRIER, some quite close at the west 90, some being attacked by other raptors
COOPER'S HAWK, an immature, probably female, perched and soaring
RED-TAILED HAWK, dark moph, rufous morph, young, old, western, you name it
HARLAN'S HAWK, some we argued about so it's not just on Tweeters where you get the berries
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, some hovering and hunting
AMERICAN KESTREL, going after that Red-tail like a 109 taking on a B-17
MERLIN, Tiage, great display of flight, stoops, soaring
PEREGRINE FALCON, soaring and perched
PRAIRIE FALCON, attacking a harrier as well as hunting
SHORT-EARED OWL, mixing it up with others at the west 90
NORTHERN SHRIKE, not really a raptor but interesting to see



Jack Kintner <kintner at nas.com> Blaine, WA