Hello Tweets,

Today Ken Knittle and my mother and I located the WHOOPER SWAN in both Skagit and Snohomish Cos. on both sides of Pioneer Way south of Conway. The bird was first detected very briefly at 8:45am in a large muddy stubble field immediately north of the dirt road to Big Ditch in Snohomish Co. The bird lifted and flew alone northward and was not relocated until 9am in another large field about 1/2 mile north of Big Ditch with several Trumpeter Swans. We continued watching the bird in the rain from a private railroad crossing just west of Pioneer Way and were soon joined by 2 Snohomish birders. A short time later the owner of the property came out and in a friendly manner wanted to know what we were all looking at,so we showed him the Whooper Swan in our spotting scope. The bird continued to remain with a few Trumpeter Swans,as it grazed on green grass and waddled around the muddy field. At 9:30am the Whooper Swan then flew safely north into Skagit Co. north with 6 Trumpeter Swans. We soon drove north along Pioneer Way and relocated the Whooper Swan in a large grassy field east of Pioneer Way and north of Swanson Lane,which is most likely the same field and location where Carol Riddell, Alan Knue, and other birders observed the bird yesterday. We were first joined by a New Mexico birder,who was here in Washington not only for birding. The bird remained at this same location loosely associating with 45 Trumpeter Swans and a single Tundra Swan,as more birders arrived to see this great bird,including Matt Bartels. The Whooper Swan could continue to stroll it's way northward,so perhaps at some point it will be added to the Whatcom Co. list!

We have placed 6 photos of the Whooper Swan onto our website,which were taken along Pioneer Way in Skagit Co. We have also placed 3 photos of the Gray-headed Junco taken on the 5th of January onto our website taken at Sandy Daniel's residence. These photos can all be accessed from the following link: http://www.pbase.com/godwit/recent_photos/



*****A NOTE to BIRDERS*****

Pioneer Way can be very busy with traffic,although it wasn't too busy today during our visit. There are only a very few actual pull-offs along Pioneer Way between Conway and the Big Ditch Rd. cut-off,but a few side roads do exist to safely pull-off from east of Pioneer Way. These roads include Swanson Lane,where the Whooper Swan delighted many birders today!

We continued watching the Whooper Swan until 10:20am when we decided to leave and go to the Skagit WRA since he weather had greatly improved. We left the Whooper Swan for other birders to continue watching,as the swan flock moved further out into the field. It was a great bird to see again,especially since it was in both Skagit and Snohomish Cos. and we did get better looks at the bird compared to seeing the bird near Snohomish on the 30th of December.

We arrived at the east parking lot of the Skagit WRA at 10:40am,where we were soon joined by Matt Bartels. We all made a short walk around the east parking lot,as well as walking a portion of the dirt road back out towards the entrance. Within our short time we heard,then located a pair of PINE GROSBEAKS,which perched atop an alder tree north of the dirt road leading to the east parking lot. The birds eventually flew south and joined a third Pine Grosbeak,as they all continued towards the outer dike. A scattered flock of sparrows,"Oregon"Juncos, and Red-winged Blackbirds were evident near the parking lot in bramble patches and within one of these flocks we located 2 Lincoln's Sparrows just before we left Matt and 3 birders from British Columbia. A Hairy Woodpecker called between the east and west parking lots,but never showed itself. Perhaps Matt will have located more good birds after we left and will report them later. In and around the Fir Island area there good numbers of Snow Geese flying around,as well as Trumpeter Swans. The only other species of note were 2 Greater White-fronted Geese amongst a flock of Trumpeter Swans along Pioneer Way just south of Fir Island Rd. A big thank you to Carol Riddell and Alan Knue for posting the Whooper Swan along Pioneer Way onto Tweeters lastnight!


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit513 at msn.com