Hello all.
On Thursday morning (5/2/02), Netta Smith and I saw a Gray-crowned
Rosy-Finch at Rosario Head, seaward from Rosario Beach on the north side of
Deception Pass, Skagit County. It was the gray-headed (Hepburn's) type that
breeds in the Cascades. It looked right at home on the very alpine-looking
habitat on the top of the cliff there and was wonderfully tame. If you've
never been to this spot, it's quite picturesque and often has interesting
birds.

We went looking for shorebirds, and March Point and Whidbey Island had only
a smattering. All we saw were Western and Least sandpipers, Sanderlings,
Dunlins, and Semipalmated Plovers, and not many of them, at a whole series
of beaches, bays, and lakes we visited. The Sanderlings were the most
interesting, a big flock on the rocky beach at Swantown, showing every stage
of plumage intermediacy between full nonbreeding and full breeding. The 3
Dunlins we saw in that flock were not fully into breeding plumage, unlike
most of their relatives on the outer coast, making me think they were from a
different population or perhaps were immatures.

It was nice to see quite a few Oldsquaws (Long-tailed Ducks) off the
northwest shore of Whidbey, in full breeding plumage.

Dennis Paulson
--
Netta Smith and Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115