Dear Ryan and Tweeters,

A Lark Sparrow is certainly a good find in Skagit
County. Here are the four previous sightings that I
know about:

Paul Hicks had one in the 1970's at the Concrete
Airport;

June of 1975 or 1976, Keith and Jan Wiggers watched
one in a Gravenstein apple tree--with a Lazuli
Bunting!--in their yard near the Butler Flats;

June 3, 1993, Stuart Johnston found one at Barnaby
Slough;

May 18, 1996, Doyle McClure and Gary Bletsch saw one
at the intersection of Old Highway 99 and Bow Hill
Road.

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch


--- merrillr at u.washington.edu wrote:

> I had a few hours free this morning so I headed up
> North to get one more day of birding in before
> leaving for New Zealand on Sunday. The big
> highlight of the trip was an adult LARK SPARROW at
> the Hayden (Snow Goose) Preserve, one of nine
> sparrow species found this morning! I initially saw
> it fly across in front of my car while driving down
> to park. I followed it along the edge of the road
> until it flew down the muddy, dirt road heading East
> from the parking lot. I was trying to get a picture
> but it wouldn't stay still long enough. Does anyone
> know how many other Lark Sparrow records there are
> for Skagit County?
>
> Highlights from the morning:
>
> American Kestrel (1 very bright male at the West 90)
> Killdeer (75+, mostly on Fir Island)
> Greater Yellowlegs (3, W-90 outer dike)
> Lesser Yellowlegs (3, W-90 outer dike)
> BAIRD'S SANDPIPER (1 a few hundred yards down
> Rawlins Road on Fir Island near a puddle)
> Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1, Skagit Game Range)
> Orange-crowned Warbler (60+, mostly at the Skagit
> Game Range)
> Yellow Warbler (15)
> Western Tanager (5, Game Range)
> CHIPPING SPARROW (1, W-90 outer dike, just south of
> the parking lot)
> LARK SPARROW (1, Hayden Preserve, near parking lot)
> Savannah Sparrow (200+, everywhere)
> Fox Sparrow (8, Game Range)
> Lincoln's Sparrow (25, most at Game Range, W-90)
> Black-headed Grosbeak (2, Game Range)
> Evening Grosbeak (1 just North of Breazeale
> Interpretive Center on Bayview-Edison Rd)
>
> Good Birding,
> Ryan Merrill
> Kirkland, WA
> merrillr AT bc.edu
>
>


=====

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch

near Lyman (Skagit County), Washington

garybletsch at yahoo.com




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