Chris:

I teach part-time at the Northwest Indian College. I notice that Whatcom
Transit has busses running by the College fairly frequently, and friends
tell me that bus service is actually very good in the area. I don't know if
WT has buses running to Sandy Point, but it should be easy to find out.

I spent a little time yesterday and the day before walking around on and
near the Lummi dike just opposite Sandy Point. I saw thousands (really!) of
Pintails, many Common Loons, lots of Red-breasted Mergansers, Dowitchers (I
think; they were quite a way off), horned/eared grebes, lots of "peeps", a
bittern, many Northern Harriers, one female Hooded Merganser, two Yellowlegs
(don't know the species), many Western Meadowlarks, Great Blue Herons, Bald
Eagles, and miscellaneous other birds.

Jim McGough


----- Original Message -----
From: "Christopher Steven Duke" <dukec at cc.wwu.edu>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>; <panmail at fastmail.fm>
Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2002 10:40 AM
Subject: Whatcom County


> Hello all-
>
> I was writing to see if there were any birders out there who would know
> directions to Sandy Point on Lummi Bay, from Bellingham. I was hoping
> to find some longspurs and Snow Buntings, but couldn't find any good
> locations closer to Bellingham than Sandy Point. A further
> complication is my college student status, I am "marooned" at Western
> Washington University w/o a vehicle, save for my bike. Any knowledge
> of routes to get there on bike would be great, or if anyone in the area
> feels like going birding sometime, I have a pretty much wide open
> schedule, let me know...
>
> On a more interesting note, I recently went birding along Boulevard
> Park in Bellingham, on the south shore of Bellingham bay, and had some
> fun sightings. The usual host of gulls, cormorants, and landbirds in
> the scrub along the park, but some unusual stuff, too. On a rock at
> the south end of the park, a male HARLEQUIN DUCK gave me some great
> views, and in the bay west of the park, I saw a raft of approx. 200-300
> WESTERN GREBES (!), I don't think I've ever seen that many Westerns in
> one place. Also found were Common Loon, Red-Necked Grebe, Black
> Turnstone, and one Bonaparte's Gull. My personal favorite sighting was
> a flock (6 birds) of TRUMPETOR SWANS that flew overhead, heading south
> (to the Skagit, I would assume).
>
> Since then, I also saw two PEREGRINE FALCONS hunting from my dorm room.
> They were completely seperate hunts being carried out at the same
> time; one was after a flock of Red-Winged Blackbirds over town, and the
> other was chasing a flock of shorebirds over the bay. I watched both
> for a time, and even got my roommate and girlfriend interested, both of
> whom are usually indifferent to any bird whatsoever.
>
> Anyway, thanks for any info, and I hope I can work out a trip soon!
> Until then, may your lists be long, your rarities spectacular, and the
> weather favorable (haha). Good birding!
>
> Chris Duke
> dukec at cc.wwu.edu
> Bellingham, WA
>
>
>