Hi Tweeters,

On an entirely DISU (different subject) my sister and I headed north
last night for a walk in the Skagit Wildlife Area on Fir Island (Skagit
County, DeLorme, p. 95 , B 5-6) to see what we could hear of owls. After
all, the sun is setting earlier now and one doesn't have to stay up quite so
late! We were the only car in the parking lot and the only humans strolling
the trails. We arrived before sunset. There were no signs of all the Cedar
Waxwings we had seen one evening last month, nor the hundreds of bunnies.
We did enjoy watching a beaver on Wiley Slough and did catch sight of one
lone bunny. The hundreds of swallows swarming overhead gave us comfort that
this time we would not have to don mosquito headnets. We saw several Great
Blue Herons heading toward Skagit Bay. After crossing Wiley Slough we
walked northwesterly along the dike until we reached private property. At
that point we enjoyed another GBH roosting in a small deciduous tree for the
night, it's profile looking very vulture-like. As the sky darkened the bats
came out to take up where the swallows left off. Walking back we heard
Western Screech Owl aways from the road and closer to the Bay. We then
heard a Barred Owl fairly close to us on the inland side of the dike road.
We stood and hooted/trilled back to it and we kept up communication for
several minutes. My sister then heard the rustling of wings (alas, my
tinnitus denied me that pleasure) and the conversation ended. As we walked
a hundred yards further the Barred was perched in another clump of trees
near us and we continued our conversation with it. This went on several
times before it disappeared. After crossing Wiley Slough and heading back
towards the parking lot, an owl flew overhead. Whether it was our Barred or
another will remain a mystery. It was too dark. Where our communicant the
Barred left off, the bullfrogs and other native frogs filled the void.

Several observations. I recall several years ago running into lots of
locals walking their dogs along these dike roads in the summer. Haven't
seen a one this season. In fact, I find the lack of people around there for
evening walks quite curious--refreshing but curious. I'm always nervous
about leaving my car in the gated parking lot too late because of the sign
that says "Closed During Hours of Darkness". We ran into the caretaker who
lives in the house near the parking lot. He assured us that the gate is
never locked. That was good to know for future owl walks. He did mention
that there is a plan to actively breach the dikes in the Wildlife Area but
did not mention a timeframe. His concern was how it would affect the
sparrow population in that area. Does anyone in Tweetersville know what
Fish & Wildlife is up to?

Good Birding,

Carol Riddell
Edmonds