Tweeters,

Yesterday, Kristin Stewart, Jason Paulios, and I headed north to Anacortes
and Samish Island hoping to find the Yellow-billed Loon and Falcted Duck.
Despite the surprise snowfall and bad roads north of Seattle, we did get
to bird both areas. Some of the highlights were:

Anacortes Marina

Yellow-billed Loon -1 - found at the north end of the marina, where the
bird was first seen sitting on the exposed mudflat about 20 feet above the
tide line. After 20-30 minutes, it scooted down to the water and swam
away. It may have been in this section of the marina to avoid the rather
strong winds that were blowing.
Long-tailed Duck - 3
American Pipit - 2 on exposed mud flat
Varied Thrush - 4
Cooper's Hawk -1
Fox Sparrow - 3


West 90 parking lot and dike at Samish Island

Falcated Duck - not seen in flooded ponds or in the bay, but the bay had
very low tides at the time. American Wigeon were in small numbers
throughout the entire area, but perhaps this was simply related to tidal
conditions.
Rough-legged Hawk - 5 or 6, including one dark morph bird
American Kestrel - 1
Dunlin - several large flocks
Black-bellied Plover - 5
Common Snipe - 2
Short-eared Owl - 1
American Pipit - 10 to 15
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1
Lincoln's Sparrow - 12 to 15
Savannah Sparrow - 1
Western Meadowlark - 4

Gary Wiles
Tumwater, WA
wilesharkey at yahoo.com





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