Hi, all.

Lynn Miller, Brian Carson and I found the Whooper Swan last Wednesday, and
since weather and work schedules were favorable, we decided to return to
Washington today to try for the Rusty Blackbird, Red-shouldered Hawk and
Slaty-backed Gull. We met our friend Dan Olson from Snohomish at Conway, as
Dan was hoping to see the Whooper Swan. We searched the Conway area, first
in the fog and later in sunshine, checking out various flocks large and
small, on both sides of I-5, but decided to move on after two hours.

We arrived at Carnation and were encouraged when we saw a number of birders
were already there. We soon had good looks at the female Rusty Blackbird on
the roof of the barn, and a bit later a brief glimpse of one of the males.

We then went to Kent Ponds and again Ruth and Patrick were there. They
already had the Red-shouldered Hawk in their sights. We had intermittent
distant looks at it, often obscured by branches, but good enough for a
definite ID, and we observed its distinctive hunting style while hoping for
closer looks that it never allowed.

After a very late lunch we headed over to the Cedar River hoping we wouldn't
have to wait too long for the Slaty-backed Gull to come in. There were
probably a dozen birders with scopes and cameras already lined up at the
Kayak center. They were watching a large number of gulls just off shore as
small groups of gulls continued to drift in, and were presumably waiting for
The Gull to arrive. Then Lynn had the Slaty-backed Gull in his scope and we
got great looks at it bathing, preening and resting, favoring its left leg,
until a Bald Eagle flew in and scattered the gulls.

For me, this was three life species on the day, and two of them I've been
chasing for a long time. What a great day, and thanks to all we met,
including Ruth and Patrick, for helping make it successful.

Stan Olson
Abbotsford BC

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