Tweeters,

The North American Migration Count took place on May 13 in Skagit
County under near-perfect weather conditions. Hopefully, Gary Bletsch
and Bob Kuntz will be able to provide a brief summary when all the results
have been submitted and tabulated. In the meantime, here is a report
for Area 3, which includes the southern part of Fidalgo Island, just south
of Anacortes. A list of the main localities covered is included in the
report
below which I submitted to http://birdnotes.net .

Dawn Bailey from Eatonville joined me for a very enjoyable day of birding.
Thanks, Dawn, for making at least a 5-hour return drive to take part in
this project!

Our total of 87 species was less than this area tallied in past years, but
not bad considering that there was only one field party instead of two
parties
as usual.

None of the species we saw were really unusual. For me, the best bird
was a female BULLOCK'S ORIOLE seen building a nest in a willow
at the head of Similk Bay-- only my second sighting for Skagit County.
I was impressed by the number of BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS,
which seem to be increasing in the area. 6 RING-NECKED DUCKS on salt water
off Similk Beach seemed surprising.

Bad misses included Rock Pigeon, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Steller's Jay,
Varied Thrush, Am. Coot, Spotted Sandpiper, and most shorebirds
(only 4 species seen) and dabbling ducks (only 3 species).

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net

**************************************************************************

This report was mailed for Wayne Weber by http://birdnotes.net

Date: May 13, 2006
Location: Skagit County, Washington

Low temperature: 50 degrees Fahrenheit High temperature: 65 degrees
Fahrenheit
Wind direction: NW
Prevailing wind speed: 12-19 km/h
Percentage of sky covered by clouds: 0%
Precipitation: none

The following list is for the southern part of Fidalgo
Island in Skagit County, which was covered as part of the North
American Migration Count for Skagit County. Specific areas covered
included Deception Pass State Park (Rosario Head and Bowman Bay), Biz
Point and Langley Bay, Lake Campbell, Mount Erie and vicinity, Dewey,
Similk Beach, and the western side of the Swinomish Indian
Reservation, south as far as Pull and Be Damned Point.

Observers were Wayne Weber (present from about 6:45 AM to
9:00 PM) and Dawn Bailey (present from 7:45 AM to 6:00 PM).

Mammals observed included Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seal,
Eastern Cottontail, Douglas Squirrel, and an unidentified weasel. A
dead Coast Mole was found on the road near Mud Lake. Pacific Chorus
Frogs were heard calling at Lake Campbell.

Birds seen (in taxonomic order):

Canada Goose 16 [1]
Wood Duck 1 [2]
Gadwall 4 [3]
Mallard 7
Ring-necked Duck 6 [4]
Greater Scaup 25 [5]
Harlequin Duck 2 [6]
Surf Scoter 19 [7]
White-winged Scoter 7 [8]
Bufflehead 4 [9]
Common Goldeneye 1 [10]
Red-breasted Merganser 1 [11]
California Quail 12
Red-throated Loon 1 [12]
Common Loon 2
Red-necked Grebe 3 [13]
Western Grebe 5 [14]
Double-crested Cormorant 25 [15]
Pelagic Cormorant 28 [16]
Great Blue Heron 14 [17]
Turkey Vulture 6
Osprey 3 [18]
Bald Eagle 13
Red-tailed Hawk 4
Virginia Rail 5 [19]
Killdeer 4
Black Oystercatcher 12 [20]
Greater Yellowlegs 2 [21]
Western Sandpiper 10 [22]
California Gull 1 [23]
Glaucous-winged Gull 130
Caspian Tern 1 [24]
Pigeon Guillemot 34 [25]
Rhinoceros Auklet 25 [26]
Band-tailed Pigeon 3 [27]
Mourning Dove 5 [28]
Rufous Hummingbird 8
Belted Kingfisher 3 [29]
Downy Woodpecker 1 [30]
Northern Flicker 2
Olive-sided Flycatcher 4 [31]
Pacific-slope Flycatcher 8
Hutton's Vireo 2 [32]
Warbling Vireo 1
Northwestern Crow 20
Common Raven 2
Tree Swallow 6 [33]
Violet-green Swallow 7
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 4
Cliff Swallow 41 [34]
Barn Swallow 28
Black-capped Chickadee 6
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 5
Bushtit 2 [35]
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 [36]
Brown Creeper 3
Bewick's Wren 4
Winter Wren 8
Marsh Wren 4 [37]
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 [38]
Swainson's Thrush 10 [39]
American Robin 75
European Starling 35
Orange-crowned Warbler 10
Yellow Warbler 3 [40]
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Black-throated Gray Warbler 1 [41]
Townsend's Warbler 6 [42]
Common Yellowthroat 2 [43]
Wilson's Warbler 13
Western Tanager 6
Spotted Towhee 20
Savannah Sparrow 4
Song Sparrow 26
White-crowned Sparrow 26
Golden-crowned Sparrow 1 [44]
Dark-eyed Junco 9 [45]
Black-headed Grosbeak 7 [46]
Red-winged Blackbird 16
Brewer's Blackbird 7 [47]
Brown-headed Cowbird 19
Bullock's Oriole 1 [48]
Purple Finch 18
House Finch 24
Pine Siskin 2 [49]
American Goldfinch 25
House Sparrow 34

Footnotes:

[1] Canada Goose-- 11 goslings with 3 ads. at Lake Campbell
[2] Wood Duck-- 1m, Lake Campbell
[3] Gadwall-- pair at head of Similk Bay, pair flying at Rosario Head
[4] Ring-necked Duck-- 6 on salt water off Similk Beach with scaup &
scoters
[5] Greater Scaup-- 3 small flocks in Similk Bay
[6] Harlequin Duck-- pair on rocks at Rosario Head
[7] Surf Scoter-- all in one flock off Similk Beach
[8] W-w. Scoter-- flock of 7 flew past Rosario Head
[9] Bufflehead-- flock of 4 (1m, 3f) off Dewey
[10] Com. Goldeneye-- 1 imm. male off Dewey
[11] R-b. Merganser-- 1m off Rosario Head
[12] R-t. Loon-- well offshore from Similk Beach
[13] R-n. Grebe-- 1 in Langley Bay, 2 off Dewey
[14] W. Grebe-- all in Langley Bay
[15] D-c. Cormorant-- most in Similk Bay
[16] Pelagic Cormorant-- all at Rosario Head
[17] G.B. Heron-- most commuting to and from heronry near Whitmarsh
[18] Osprey-- 2 at Bowman Bay, 1 at Similk Beach
[19] Virginia Rail-- 4 heard in marsh at head of Similk Bay, 1 at
Lake Campbell
[20] Black Oystercatcher-- 7 at Rosario Head, 2 near Biz Point, 3 at
Dewey
[21] Greater Yellowlegs-- both at head of Similk Bay
[22] W. Sandpiper-- flock on mud at head of Similk Bay
[23] Calif. Gull-- 1 ad. with Glaucous-wings off Rosario Head
[24] Caspian Tern-- 1 heard flying over Similk Bay
[25] Pigeon Guillemot-- most at Rosario Head, others at Langley Bay &
Similk Bay
[26] Rhinoceros Auklet-- all off Rosario Head
[27] B-t. Pigeon-- 3 in tree near Snee-oosh Beach
[28] Mourning Dove-- one at Similk Beach, others heard cooing on
Swinomish Reservation
[29] B. Kingfisher-- 2 at Rosario Head, 1 at Similk Beach
[30] Downy Woodpecker-- 1 at Mud Lake
[31] O-s. Flycatcher-- 1 at Rosario Head, 1 at Bowman Bay, 2 at Lake
Campbell
[32] Hutton's Vireo-- 1 on Swinomish Reservation, 1 at Bowman Bay
(both singing)
[33] Tree Swallow-- at Rosario Head and Lake Campbell
[34] Cliff Swallow-- most were at a colony on a barn on South
Campbell Lake Road
[35] Bushtit-- 2 at W end of S Lake Campbell Road
[36] R-b. Nuthatch-- 1 on Swinomish Reservation, 1 at Rosario Head
[37] Marsh Wren-- 2 in marsh at head of Similk Bay, 2 at Lake Campbell
[38] R-c. Kinglet-- 1 on Swinomish Reservation
[39] Swainson's Thrush-- most heard calling in early AM on Swinomish
Reservation
[40] Yellow Warbler-- all 3 at Lake Campbell
[41] B-t. Gray warbler-- 1 on Swinomish Reservation
[42] Townsend's Warbler-- most heard singing on and near Mount Erie
[43] Com. Yellowthroat-- both birds singing at Lake Campbell
[44] Golden-c. Sparrow-- 1 seen on lawn at Bowman Bay
[45] D-e. Junco-- most were on and near Mount Erie
[46] B-h. Grosbeak-- most were in deciduous forest on Swinomish
Reservation
[47] Brewer's Blackbird-- all 7 were along N side of Lake Campbell
[48] Bullock's Oriole-- female seen building a nest (!) in a willow
(~30 feet tall) at head of Similk Bay
[49] Pine Siskin-- Very scarce; 2 heard in overflight near Sharpe
County Park

Total number of species seen: 87