Subject: Skagit Co. Gyrfalcon Yes, Rusty Blackbird No
Date: Nov 26 06:23:01 2003
From: Wayne C. Weber - contopus at telus.net


Tweeters,

Yesterday, November 25, I attempted unsuccessfully to relocate the
RUSTY BLACKBIRD found by Gary Bletsch near Sedro Woolley on Sunday.
Although I couldn't find the bird, I did find a large flock of
blackbirds and Starlings not far from the location reported by Gary in
the attached message, and I suspect that the Rusty was with the flock,
but that I was just unable to pick it out.

I birded the area from Sedro Woolley east to Hoehn Road and Utopia
Road from about 11 AM to 2:30 PM in good weather (partly cloudy, a
little breezy at times, but no rain). Starting at the intersection of
Hoehn and Minkler Roads described below by Gary, I searched for a
Starling/blackbird flock. It took me two hours to locate a large
flock, with only trifling numbers being seen in the meantime. I
finally located the flock about 1.4 miles by road from where Gary saw
it-- next to milepost 3 on Hoehn Road, at the Kiefer farm, where Hoehn
Road begins to curve back westward toward Sedro Woolley.

For the first 30 minutes I was there, most of the blackbirds and
Starlings were feeding in a wet pasture south of Hoehn Road, on the
Skagit floodplain about 30 feet below road level, and could be seen
well with a scope from the road. (There is room-- barely-- to pull off
the pavement there.) I estimated 300 STARLINGS, 300 BREWER'S
BLACKBIRDS, and 200 RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS in the flock-- possibly an
underestimate. I was able to pick out one female BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD
with the blackbirds, but no RUSTY. There were also at least 200
NORTHWESTERN CROWS and 100 MEW GULLS feeding in the fields along with
the Starling/blackbird flock. After 30 minutes, most of the
blackbirds, Starlings and crows flew into a corn-stubble field on the
north side of the road, up to 300 metres from the road, where most of
them could be seen only when they flew. After another half-hour, I
finally gave up and left after only occasional glimpses of
identifiable blackbirds in the cornfield.

At no time were all of the blackbirds out in the open in the pasture--
there were always at least a few in the trees or in the cornfield-- so
I suspect that the RUSTY BLACKBIRD was with the flock but missed by
me. Someone with more time or patience, or better luck, may well
succeed in relocating the Rusty (which would be a "state bird" for
me).

I did find 34 species of birds in the area, including a few of mild
interest. A NORTHERN SHRIKE was seen along Utopia Road east of Hoehn
Road. In flooded fields along Burmaster Road, not far west of its
junction with Hoehn Road, were a number of diving ducks including 5
RING-NECKED DUCKS, 4 LESSER SCAUP, a HOODED MERGANSER, a COMMON
GOLDENEYE, and 25 BUFFLEHEADS as well as the inevitable MALLARDS. A
flock of at least 300 small CANADA GEESE-- probably CACKLING GEESE--
took off from the fields and flew westward over Burmaster Road,
looking like they planned to fly some distance before realighting.

After a hasty late lunch at the Sedro Woolley Subway, I headed for the
Samish Flats near Edison to try to locate the GYRFALCON, a bird I've
seen only about 3 times before in Washington (although many times near
Vancouver). This time I hit the jackpot. One of the first birds I saw
after arriving at the flats at about 3:20 was the GYRFALCON, sitting
atop the 3rd telephone pole north of the bend in the Bay View-Edison
Road known as the Samish "East 90". From inside my car, I had great
scope views of this immature gray-phase bird at less than 100 feet
distance. After a few minutes, it left the pole and landed in the
grass about 70 feet east of the road and proceeded to feed on the
remains of a kill (duck?) partially concealed in the tall grass. It
then returned to the telephone pole, where I was able to drive slowly
up to the very base of the pole for "crippling views" of the bird
without frightening it off. My previous experience with Gyrfalcons is
that they are often very unafraid-- I have once previously walked
right up to the base of a telephone pole with a Gyrfalcon perched on
top, without the bird taking flight.

My coverage of the Samish Flats was very brief, because of the limited
time available (1.5 hours), much of which was spent watching the
GYRFALCON. However, I did see at least 6 NORTHERN HARRIERS, 5
RED-TAILED HAWKS, one adult BALD EAGLE, and one dark-phase
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK as well as the GYRFALCON.

Good luck and good birding!

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net



----- Original Message -----
From: Gary Bletsch <garybletsch at yahoo.com>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Sunday, November 23, 2003 6:55 PM
Subject: Rusty Blackbird in Skagit County


> Dear Tweeters,
>
> Today there was a Rusty Blackbird in a big flock of Brewer's
Blackbirds, just east of Sedro-Woolley (Skagit County).
>
> The location was a muddy pasture on Hoehn (rhymes with goin') Road,
a hundred meters or so south of Minkler Road. The pasture had nearly a
thousand starlings feeding to the east of Hoehn Road, among the cows,
while about two hundred Brewer's were feeding to the west of Hoehn.
>
> On page 109 of the DeLorme Atlas, lower right corner, this location
can be found, just north of the first capital N in the word
"Burlington"--where it shows the old Burlington Northern rail line
(now a rails-to-trails). This is about four or five miles east of
Sedro-Woolley via Minkler Road (called "B C Minkler Road" in the
Gazetteer).
>
> At first I thought I saw a lone female Red-winged Blackbird in the
Brewer's flock, but the bold eyebrow, the reddish cap, the
reddish-brown edging to tertials, and the light iris soon gave me
pause.
>
> There is a halfway-decent shoulder to Hoehn Road here, so a vehicle
can be pulled over. The birds were rather cooperative for blackbirds,
sometimes moving closer to the car, then flying a short ways off when
other vehicles drove by, and then returning to eat whatever it was
they were eating in the mud not far from the road.
>
> On a personal note, this was a satisfying observation indeed. The
last time I'd seen a Rusty Blackbird was the day I'd first seen one,
in April of 1977. Every time one of these birds has been reported in
Skagit County, I have made repeated trips, only to find nothing but
the usual skittish flock of blackbirds that disappears at the sight of
a pair of binoculars. One particular Rusty showed up near the
Farmhouse Inn for several weeks, and I made trip after trip, one time
missing the bird by fifteen minutes...
>
> I cannot think of another species, for a second look at which I have
waited 26 years. All part of the fun of birding!
>
>
>
>
> Yours truly,
>
> Gary Bletsch
>
> near Lyman (Skagit County), Washington
>
> garybletsch at yahoo.com
>
>
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