Subject: [Tweeters] Samish Flats - Tagged Bald Eagle,
Date: Dec 9 16:42:32 2007
From: Raymond Parsons - rayshome1 at hotmail.com


Hi Tweets -

I visited the Samish Flats on Saturday, December 8th in an effort to photograph the local raptors and came across a couple interesting ones.

Specifically, I have a photograph of a Bald Eagle perched in a tree along Baview-Edison Rd that has a "large" orange tag on it. I thought some folks might be interested in seeing this as I've never seen it before. Photo link below.

Tagged Bald Eagle: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rparsons/2099452434/

Also, I photographed a Red-tailed Hawk that has Long-Billed Hawk syndrome. Photo link below.

Long-Billed Red-Tailed Hawk: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rparsons/2096717474/

Among the species for the day, I came across at least 10 Bald Eagles, with a mix of adult and juvenile. I also photographed a male Northern Harrier in the WDFW field off Samish Island Rd. A single female was present with the male, although I'm sure there were others.

The male Rough-legged Hawk was perched in his usual location on the telephone line off Bayview-Edison Rd. I did not see the female Rough-legged Hawk (white morph), although I photographed it on a couple prior visits off Bayview-Edison Rd.

Finally, I also visited on Thursday, December 6th and the interesting species for the day was a Short-eared Owl. There were actually four of them in the WDFW field off Samish Island Rd and they were very difficult to photograph. These two photos are the best that I could do. On my following visit on Saturday, I did not see them, although I'm sure they're nearby.

Short-eared Owl: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rparsons/2091705111/
Short-eared Owl: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rparsons/2091707115/

Raymond Parsons
rayshome1 at hotmail.com