I saw a yellow-headed blackbird in a starling trap in the county also heard
of some nesting west. bluebirds............Paul

>From: "Wayne C. Weber" <contopus at telus.net>
>Reply-To: whatcombirds at lists.wwu.edu
>To: "WHATCOM BIRDERS" <whatcombirds at lists.wwu.edu>
>CC: "TWEETERS" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>Subject: Birding at Blaine and Mount Baker
>Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 08:26:54 -0700
>
>Birders,
>
>Stimulated by Jim Duemmel's report, I made an afternoon visit to
>Blaine on May 19. I found fewer shorebirds than Jim, but a lot more
>gulls and terns.
>
>Birds of interest at Blaine included:
>
>Barrow's Goldeneye pair off the crab pier (very late!)
>Osprey 1 on a piling off the crab pier
>Whimbrel 10
>Bonaparte's Gull 35 (mostly imm.)
>Ring-billed Gull 25
>California Gull 6
>Caspian Tern 29
>Common Tern 54
>
>The DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT colony on the marina breakwater
>was in full swing, with nearly 100 birds in attendance. Washington
>birders may be interested to know that this species is on the provincial
>"red list" in BC (meaning threatened or endangered), because of
>dramatic declines in breeding colonies over the last 20 years. If it were
>in BC, this would rate as one of the largest colonies in the province.
>
>Also at the south end of Drayton Harbor:
>
>Whimbrel 17
>Caspian Tern 1
>Mourning Dove 1
>
>
>A belated report from Mount Baker on May 17 (Heather Meadows ski area,
>and the access road above the Silver Fir campground:
>
>Blue Grouse 6 (one seen well, hooting from the top of a mountain
> hemlock at Heather Meadows)
>Rufous Hummingbird 1
>Red-breasted Sapsucker 4
>Hairy Woodpecker 1
>Northern Flicker 4
>Olive-sided Flycatcher 1
>Violet-green Swallow 2
>Barn Swallow 5
>Gray Jay 3
>Steller's Jay 2
>Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
>Winter Wren 1
>Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 (singing)
>Varied Thrush 2
>American Robin 8
>Dark-eyed Junco 5
>Evening Grosbeak 5
>
>There was far less snow around than normal for mid-May, but even so, the
>road from Heather Meadows to Austin Pass was still blocked by snow, and
>likely will be for a while yet.
>
>The weather was marginal (broken clouds, intermittent gusts of wind, even
>a brief hail shower), and bird activity was decidedly less than normal.
>(E.g., no COMMON RAVENS, HERMIT THRUSHES, or TOWNSEND'S
>WARBLERS were noted.) However, it was a worthwhile visit for me
>nonetheless.
>
>At Silver Fir Campground on the way down, a MOURNING DOVE in the
>overflow parking area seemed out of place. Also recorded here and not
>elsewhere were PILEATED WOODPECKER, HAMMOND'S and
>PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS, and BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER.
>
>Good luck and good birding,
>
>Wayne C. Weber
>Delta, BC
>contopus at telus.net
>
>
>
>