Yesterday found Natalie and I doing book research at some of the areas in
the northwest corner of the state, including Birch Bay State Park, the
Lake Terrell Wildlife Area, Lummi Flats and Crockett Lake. By far, the
greatest diversity of birds were at Birch Bay, though we didn't see
anything out-of-the-ordinary. Most notable was the large number of
Kingfisher calling and feeding along Birch Bay Drive in the freshwater
areas. We had also hoped to find a few shorebirds filtering into the
area, but found nothing unusual...

Here are some highlights:

Along I-5 going north and then south later in the day -
- Bald Eagle
- An accipiter near the Lake Samish turnoffs (looked like a Cooper's Hawk
from the wing posture)
- 8 Turkey Vulture hunting together along Grandview Road
- What appeared to be a Snipe in flight

At Birch Bay State Park -
- Numerous Great Blue Heron
- Glaucous-wing Gull
- Veery (many heard and a few seen)
- Goldfinch (feeding between Terrell Creek and Birch Bay Drive)
- Black-headed Grosbeak (along Helweg Road at the park entrance)
- Violet-Green Swallow (numerous)
- Barn Swallow
- Song Sparrow
- Winter Wren
- 9 KINGFISHER (many mature and immature feeding along Terrell Creek and
Birch Bay Drive)
- Numerous Mallard
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Killdeer
- Brandt's Cormorant (flying west in the bay)
- Purple Finch
- Northwestern Crow
- Cedar Waxwing
- Fox Sparrow
- Marsh Wren
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Swainson's Thrush (along the 0.5 mile-long Terrell Marsh Trail)
- House Wren (also along Terrell Marsh Trail)

- We also found a Pacific Tree Frog in the brambles near the entrance to
the Terrell Marsh Trail
- Hundreds of Cabbage White butterflies mingling in the berries and
grassy areas along Birch Bay Drive

At Terrell Lake Wildlife Area -
- Numerous adult and immature Canada Geese
- Rufous Hummingbird
- Anna's Hummingbird
- Northern Flicker
- Downy Woodpecker
- Veery

Along Lummi Shore Road -
- Many immature Bald Eagle sitting on rocks during low tide
- Numerous Great Blue Heron

Crockett Lake -
- Two Northern Harrier
- Mallard
- Glaucous-winged Gull
- Savannah Sparrow
- Great Blue Heron

- Also saw a handful of Pigeon Guillemot along Keystone Spit


--
Rob McNair-Huff <mailto:rob at whiterabbits.com>
White Rabbit Publishing <http://www.whiterabbits.com>
Publisher of Mac Net Journal <http://www.whiterabbits.com/MacNetJournal>
The Equinox Project <http://www.whiterabbits.com/weblog.html>
Co-author of Insiders Guide to the Olympic Peninsula