Hi Tweets

A Seattle Audubon trip to the Samish and Skagit flats (Skagit County)
today started out in the rain north of Stanwood. Until about 11:00 we
did a lot of car birding because of the steady, and sometimes, heavy
rain. In spite of this we had good views of TRUMPETER SWANS, RED-TAILED
HAWKS, and BALD EAGLES. Along a residential street north of Bow we had a
nice collection of WHITE-CROWNED and SONG SPARROWS, DARK-EYED JUNCOS and
VARIED THRUSH. As we worked our way out thru Edison we kept picking up
more red-tails and bald eagles. Just north of the West 90 (DeLorme p.
108, d5) we had a nice dark morph ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.

The last of the heavy storms hit just as we got to the West 90, so we
went out to the end of Samish Island to the little WDFW access point at
the end of Wharf Road (DeLorme p. 108, D4). We picked up SURF and
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, COMMON LOON, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON GOLDENEYE and
BRANT. As we were leaving we got nice looks at a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER.

Back at the West 90 we saw SHORT-EARED OWLS everywhere. There were at
least 12 flying, perching and generally giving us fantastic views.
NORTHERN HARRIERS, male, female and immature were in plentiful supply.
Almost all the raptors were spending time perched with wings out
attempting to dry out after the rains. A MERLIN made a flyby while we
were there. As we made our way down toward the Brazeale Interpretive
Center at the Padilla Bay Center we had a nice look at an immature
PEREGRINE FALCON perched in the top of a large snag. After lunch,
returning we stopped at the intersection of Bayview-Edison Rd and D'Arcy
Rd to look at an interesting bird. It turned out to be a mature NORTHERN
SHRIKE, a new bird for several folks.

We made one last pass out by the West 90, and on the way there we found
the immature GYRFALCON perched on a crossarm of one of the power poles
about half way from the "T" to the W90. Nice light and great looks at a
life bird of many of the group.

We then turned south to work our way down to Fir Island. Along the way
on Dodge Valley Road (DeLorme p. 95, D5) we had a nice female AMERICAN
KESTREL. That completed a four falcon day for us - too bad that a
prairie falcon has not been reported up that way this year.

As we came down off the bridge over the north fork of the Skagit River
the fields to the east were covered with SNOW GEESE. We estimated that
there were about 8000 birds packed tightly up by the road. We were able
to study them for quite a while, when a BALD EAGLE came by and the whole
group lifted off with much calling. After several circles by the eagle,
it left to the west and the snowies settled down again. We thought we
would stop by the Skagit Game Range, but the reconstruction of the
culverts along and under the entrance road is underway and the road is
closed (I understand that this is supposed to last for about three weeks).

All in all, with very nice weather this afternoon we had a most
enjoyable day.

Brian Bell
Woodinville Wa
bellasoc at isomedia.com

Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Western Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Snow Goose
Canada Goose
Brant
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swan
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk (plus Harlan's Hawk)
Rough-legged Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Gyrfalcon
Killdeer
Dunlin
Mew Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Pigeon Guillemot
Rhinoceros Auklet
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Short-eared Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Northern Shrike
Steller's Jay
American Crow
Comon Raven
Bewick's Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Varied Thrush
European Starling
Spotted Towhee
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
House Finch
House Sparrow