We held our Big Day last Saturday. Our team found 121 species of birds, 5
mammals, 1 amphibian, 1 butterfly ( the sun never really came out much), and
29 species of native plants in bloom. Whew! Some highlights for us: great
views of a Merlin that had recently bathed was perched in a snag near
Cranberry Lake..... A solitary Ruddy Turnstone on the Penn Cove mussel rafts
was a lifer for my wife.... lots of Red-throated Loons are still around the
west side of the island.... ditto Varied Thrush at Hoypus Point..... Swallow
numbers seem to have rebounded from their sharp drop 3-4 years ago..... We
found a Northern Harrier along side Libbey Road that flew off clutching a
snake.... 9 species of shorebirds....
Big misses included Hutton?s Vireo and Downy Woodpecker. We made no
effort for Barn Owl as we ended early to go see a showing of An Inconvenient
Truth at our church.
Steve Ellis
Coupeville, Wa
sellis at coup.wednet.edu