Hello Tweeters,



This afternoon I headed up to northern Snohomish County, with the main goal
of looking for Snowy Owls and checking various sites along the shore of the
sound. On the way up, I had a drive-by Rough-legged Hawk off I-5 near the
Everett STP. There were also huge numbers of dabbling ducks at the north
end of the main pond, though I wasn?t able to identify any of them at 60
mph. Looks like it would be worth a visit, though.



I drove south on Miller Road from Stanwood, taking the back roads to Port
Susan Bay Preserve. Found several groups of about 20 Trumpeter Swans (no
Tundras all day). The biggest surprise of the day came when I stopped to
scope some swans from the intersection of Miller and Norman Roads, and
scanning through a flock of sparrows in the bushes along the road, spotted
an adult or adult-like male BULLOCK?S ORIOLE. It was in the rows of
blackberries along the south side of Norman Road, and seemed to be feeding
on blackberries and associating with a flock of 20 or so White-crowned and
Golden-crowned Sparrows. I studied it carefully, aware that any
out-of-season oriole is just as likely to be something other than Bullock?s.
But a number of characters ? black bib and line through the eye, extensive
white in the wing coverts, and black central tail feathers ? confirmed that
it was a Bullock?s. It was quite a shock to see this flash of orange in the
middle of winter. Does anyone know of other winter records of Bullock?s
Orioles in western Washington?



Along Boe Road, on the way to Port Susan Bay Preserve (PSBP), were thousands
of Snow Geese ? I didn?t count, but would guess between 5,000 and 10,000.
Also in the fields were hundreds of gulls, mostly Mew, but with small
numbers of Ring-billed, Glaucous-winged, various mutts, and one Western.
There were also good numbers of Black-bellied Plovers (50+) and Dunlin
(300+) in the fields. With the help of Jerry Eisner and his nice scope, I
was able to see 2 Snowy Owls off in the distance, sitting among the
driftwood to the north, across the water from the PSBP. These owls were at
least a mile away, and it was hard to tell that they were birds until they
moved. Ducks at PSBP included 15 Ruddies, many Green-winged Teal and
Wigeon, a few Pintail, Gadwall, and coots. There were a number of Harriers
about, and one light-morph Rough-leg.



Next I drove back to Stanwood, briefly checked the sewage treatment ponds
(very few birds, so I didn?t scope them), then drove out the Camano Island
causeway and down to the WDFW lot at the end of Eide Road, hoping to get a
closer look at those two Snowy Owls. I had little trouble re-finding them
to the east of the dike, again in the driftwood forest. One of these birds
is quite pale, unlike the heavily barred (presumed immature) birds I?ve seen
so far this winter. There was also a nice sparrow flock here along the dike
here, with 2 Lincoln?s, 1 Savannah, 1 Fox, a few towhees, 30 White-crowned
and 10 Golden-crowned. I flushed a harrier off the carcass of a Mallard,
and it swooped about me for a few minutes, waiting for me to get beyond its
comfort range from its dinner. Also lots of very vocal Bald Eagles at this
spot.



I then dashed up to Big Ditch. Sitting on a stump 100 yards straight out
from the parking lot was another Snowy Owl. Off to the north, I could see
at least 6 very promising white lumps atop other snags and stumps, so I
walked north a few hundred yards. This confirmed that the closest of the
lumps was another Snowy, and I?m 90% sure there were two more. If someone
takes the time to look it over carefully, I think there may be 5 or more
Snowies in this area. I waited around for dusk to see if any Short-eared
Owls were about, but none to be seen. Was someone discussing here whether
Snowies are known to eat Short-ears? I sure expected to see a few, given
how much great habitat there is here.



A wonderful little afternoon jaunt, and I finally got to see more of the owl
invasion everyone?s been talking about.



Good birding,

Matt Dufort

Seattle, WA


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