The plan there is to breach the dyke to increase
salmon habitat but I don't know anything about the
time frame. Last I heard there were still legal
battles going on about it.

Michael Dossett
Bothell WA
Phainopepla at yahoo.com


--- Carol Riddell <cariddell at mac.com> wrote:
> 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


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