I tried for both birds Sunday with success, although the weather made things
a bit difficult. At Pioneer Hwy and Swanson road I was able to ID the
Whooper Swan through binoculars in the rain, but the look wasn't satisfying.
Fortunately a group of local birders arrived and offered me a view through
their scope.
>From there I went north to the Semiamhoo Spit to look for the King Eider. I
spent about 15 minutes scanning the birds around the floating docks, but the
wind was howling and I had to take a break in my car to warm up. During that
time a birder from BC arrived with his scope and we both scanned for the
bird. He was finally able to spot the bird at the far end of the docks,
where there is a small gap between the two. I would not have found it with
just binoculars.
On the way back I drove through the Skagit flats area, just to see what was
around. I've never seen so many swans and pintails. Raptor-wise I was able
to find just one Rough-legged Hawk among many Red-tails. Continuing south,
the Whooper Swan had moved from its earlier location and was north of
Milltown road where a wooden bridge goes over the canal next to the highway.
A group of 4 birders had it in their scopes.

A big thanks to all of you who helped me out on this trip...

CJ Grimes
El Morro, NM
cjgrimes at hotmail.com

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