Subject: Skagit birding 03/03 (Saw-whet head, note on exotics)
Date: Mar 4 11:34:02 2004
From: Jason Paulios - jpaulios at earthlink.net


Tweeters,
Keith Brady and I made a third attempt at birding in Skagit yesterday (first
two were cancelled due to rain) but almost called the trip due to rain. We
forged on through the storms (forecast said 50% chance until afternoon, 70%
from then on...actually was reversed) and arrived on Fir Island after
sunrise. Most of the day was shot due to rain but we did manage to find a
few interesting things. Sounds like we should have been looking for Bob
Sundstrom's crew as they relocated our target "Bewick's" Swan. Sigh.
Another big miss was the lack of ANY falcon species, though I couldn't blame
them for not wanting to be out on such a day. Also a note for HUGH
JENNINGS' crew: see note on Skagit Game Range Headquarters Unit below!!

Fir Island RD (near Cowtown farm):
Field upon field of SNOW GEESE (20,000?)
Mixed flocks of Trumpeter and Tundra Swan

We initially stopped on the shoulder near the Cowtown farm to view the
amazing amount of Snow Geese (NOTE: we didn't notice until later, there is a
sign on the side of the road here that prohibits stopping along this
stretch-probably due to Cowtown farm) but then Keith noticed the cages near
the Cowtown house. From the car we viewed the birds in the cages and saw:
RED-BREASTED GEESE (amazing birds)
WHITE-FRONTED GEESE (undetermined subspecies)
ROSS'S GEESE
BARNACLE GEESE
BRANT (undetermined subspecies)
EMPEROR GEESE (adults)
A. WIGEON (unknown if captive)
SCAUP SP. (unknown if captive)
POCHARD? (distant bird, possibly another species or hybrid)
MANDARIN DUCK
WOOD DUCK
HOODED MERGANSER

Now the question here is: do we know if these birds are "registered" and
tagged? Also is it even legal to raise native waterfowl in a farm
collection (I'm guessing it isn't that difficult to get permits/eggs)? Most
interesting part about this was that Keith and I were discussing how there
just had to be a few Ross's Geese mixed in with that giant Snow Goose flock,
so after seeing the two birds in the cages (without a top section) we had to
wonder whether one could even 'count' any Ross's found in said flock! Gotta
wonder how many of these little farms are scattered throughout the country.
Echoes the concerns of the birders in Florida (see Larry Manfredi's post
from late February) about the sale of West Indies birds in pet shops
throughout south Florida (including Red-legged Honeycreeper -of which there
is one being 'seen' in the Everglades- and PAINTED BUNTINGS!!!). Just
something to think about.

Anyway, after determining that Red-Breasted Goose would definitely be the
highlight of the day, we headed north to the Padilla/Samish Bay areas. We
dipped on the Gyrfalcon and saw no 'Harlan's'. Presumably rain kept many
birds out of sight. Highlights included:
Amazing amounts of A. WIGEON along Bayview-Edison RD with a "smattering"
(Keith's term) of EUR. WIGEON throughout. Also in there was one AMERICAN X
EURASIAN drake.
Distant BRANT from the shellfish shop (?) on Samish Island
Many ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS near the West and East 90s, including two very dark
individuals.
2 SHORT-EARED OWLS way out in the Samish Unit by the West 90s.
1 NORTHERN SHRIKE (corner of D'Arcy RD and Bayview-Edison)

When tiring of driving the same loop in the rain we decided to head south
back to the Fir Island area. The North Fork Access road had a flock of 15
WESTERN MEADOWLARKS singing and chasing each other. The Black-crowned
Night-Heron day roost was again empty, wondering if this species even exists
regularly here anymore? I seem to remember Steve Pink seeing them here last
year (?), could be they're due for that old 'extirpated' title for Skagit
county.

A brief reprieve from the rain allowed us to take a quick walk at the
Headquarters Unit of the Skagit Game Range. The very first large evergreen
on the right side of the trail looked like a likely place for an owl roost.
Keith noticed both whitewash and feathers below. Upon closer examination we
saw that the large clump of 'feathers' was actually the tiny head of a N.
SAW-WHET OWL. A pity, he probably ended up as a meal for the Barred Owl
seen last month from this location. It could have been recently dispatched
since the eyes were intact and the feathering still looked nice. So unless
there is another Saw-whet roost (which is likely since this area looks great
for these fellows) the SAS Audubon crew may not find this species on their
trip. There were a few living birds here though:
1 TREE SWALLOW
Bushtit
Fox Sparrow (singing)
1 WHITE-THROATED SPARROW
7 B/H COWBIRDS (in a very small flock of R/W Blackbirds)
1 Purple Finch (singing)

Jason Paulios
Jpaulios at earthlink.net
Olympia, WA