Tweeters,

Yesterday, August 29, I spent all afternoon and evening birding Skagit
County and northern Island County (Dugualla Bay and Deception Pass
State Park), mainly looking for shorebirds, and hoping also to find my
first COMMON TERNS and/or PARASITIC JAEGERS of the year (no luck on
that score.) As seems to be the norm for me in this area, I missed
most of my target birds, but I found a couple of unexpected species,
so the day was not a total loss after all.

I started off birding March Point near Anacortes, both at low tide
(noon to 1 PM) and at a much higher tide from about 4 to 5 PM. The
species list was short, and shorebirds were almost nonexistent. A
count of 120 GREAT BLUE HERONS roosting on the spoil islands along the
Swinomish Channel was high, but not unusual at this location. A TURKEY
VULTURE was a bit unusual, and the flocks of BARN SWALLOWS were
accompanied by at least 2 VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS, and a rather late
ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW.

Deception Pass State Park (West Beach) was busy, as would be expected
on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I could not find any Common Terns or
jaegers, but there were at least 100 HEERMANN'S GULLS and about 15
COMMON MURRES, mostly on and near Deception Island offshore. There
were a few forest birds, including a couple of RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES
and at least 8 "Sitka" RED CROSSBILLS.

I could not find the recently-reported GREAT EGRET at Dugualla Bay,
nor was much else of interest to be seen there.

Next on the agenda (after a second visit to March Point) was a visit
to the ponds at the north end of Channel Drive, north of La Conner. In
the past, I have found modest numbers of shorebirds here at high tide.
What looked like a large flock of dowitchers was spooked by a NORTHERN
HARRIER, dropped into another pond behind some trees, and was not seen
again. However, a wet spot in the fields, just south of the ponds and
near the road, did produce a few shorebirds, as follows:

Killdeer 8
Greater Yellowlegs 3
Lesser Yellowlegs 8
Least Sandpiper 4
Wilson's Snipe 1
WILSON'S PHALAROPE 2

The Wilson's Phalaropes, which were feeding at close range among the
Lesser Yellowlegs, were my first WA fall record west of the Cascades,
and a good bird for the county.

The remaining 2.5 hours of daylight were spent at the Samish Flats and
Samish Island. As usual, I bombed out at the pond at the Samish "West
90". On a couple of visits in August last year, the pond was dry as a
bone, and no shorebirds were present. This time, because of all the
recent rain, the pond was brim-full, with no exposed mud at all, and
nary a shorebird to be seen! (The numerous harriers in the area-- at
least 5 on the Flats, 3 of them near the West 90-- may also have
discouraged shorebirds.) If there is a regular spot where Samish
Bay/Padilla Bay shorebirds roost at high tide, I'd sure like to know
where it is!

The consolation prize, during a brief stop at the Samish River mouth
near Edison, was a LONG-BILLED CURLEW which was flying south, high
overhead.
This was no Whimbrel-- the bright buffy underparts were well seen, and
the bird repeatedly gave its "cur-leee, cur-leee" call, even though it
was hard to judge the bill length (bird mainly seen flying away). This
is a rare bird in Skagit County, and a county "first" for me. It's
also an unusual date-- at Vancouver, most of our Long-billed Curlew
records are in spring, and most birds have left the breeding grounds
by early August.

My birding on Samish Island was curtailed by nightfall, but at the
small park on Wharf Road, a flock of 31 MEW GULLS was a good count for
August. I also heard two WHIMBRELS flying southward overhead, but
could not see them in the fading light. A count of 130 GREAT BLUE
HERONS at Alice Bay, at the base of the island (which is really a
peninsula), was high, but again not unusual.

Finally, if someone knows a reliable spot for BAIRD'S SANDPIPER in
Skagit County, please send me a private note telling me where-- this
species is turning into a "jinx bird" for me!

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