Hey Tweeters,

Scott Downes and I had a fair day in Skagit County. The morning
started out very slow, but got better as the day progressed. The only real
highlight of the day, and our first notable species, was an adult female
RUSTY BLACKBIRD that we found with several hundred other blackbirds along Hwy
20 near the intersection with Farm to Market Rd a bit after noon. We viewed
it for about a minute before losing it in the flock again. It is a very
bright bird; all buff with orange tones, pale eye, and gray rump. Shortly
after that we had an imm "HARLAN'S" HAWK along Farm to Market Rd. We checked
all the fields carefully for Cattle Egrets, but came up empty handed. During
the day in the flats we only found two ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, both of them
immature. Also a single imm NORTHERN SHRIKE along Samish Island Road, and our
only falcons of the day were two AMERICAN KESTRELS. It was a good day for
accipiters, and we had about average numbers of harriers, Red-tailed Hawks,
and Bald Eagles. About 50,000 SNOW GEESE covered the ground at the SNGO
preserve, and during the day we had several hundred TRUMPETER SWANS and a few
good-sized flocks of BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS and DUNLIN.

At Fidalgo Head/Washington Park we had about 20 ANCIENT MURRELETS
scattered in small groups, and about 7 pairs of MARBLED MURRELETS. Back in
the Skagit Flats at dusk, a SHORT-EARED OWL was hunting the fields of the
game range.

Good birding,
Charlie Wright
Birdking88 at aol.com
Sumner, WA