I briefly birded both the Skagit Game Range (yesterday) and the Swan
Reserve on Francis Rd. in the Skagit today. At SWA I had probably 10
Lincoln's in the masses of song and fox sparrows within only the first few
hundred yards of the dike trail. I also had a tan-striped white-throated
sparrow in with a few other sparrows. Also had a very tame barred owl that
sat above the trail as I walked by. At the swan reserve I saw another 10
or so Lincoln's along with the several hundred song sparrows all along the
bramble patch that runs north along the slough. Again, I ran into one
white-throated sparrow as well. Also witnessed a huge RW blackbird flock
doing their best impression of a dunlin flock. I never ever see anybody
birding this reserve, but the brushy habitat certainly holds potential for
more uncommon to rare sparrows. Oddly enough, there was a definite lack of
white-crowns at both sites.

--- Kurt Ranta
Mt. Vernon, WA
mailto:kckar at earthlink.net