Dear Tweeters,

On October 28, a few fall birds arrived in the Upper
Skagit Valley.

A NORTHERN SHRIKE was in my yard near Lyman.

There were 4 TRUMPETER SWANS at Grandy Lake, along the
Baker Lake Highway.

Along with the swans were at least 17 PIED-BILLED
GREBES. That is one of the highest totals I have seen
anywhere in quite a while.

One of the PBGR was doing something I don't think I
have seen the species do before. It was sitting out of
the water on a log for at least fifteen minutes. Other
grebes were swimming around it, fishing, but this
fellow seemed content to squat there, a few inches
above the waterline.

A single female BUFFLEHEAD was also on the lake.
Another was swimming in a puddle along SR 20 at
milepost 76.

Up at Concrete, I was sorry to see that a major
revamping of the sewage pond area seems to have
eliminated this spot as a bird habitat, at least for
now. I had hoped to find my first goldeneyes of the
season, but the pond is covered with a thick green
(algal?) mat, and piles of material and equipment
block the view.

There weren't any goldeneyes in the Skagit River at
Concrete, either. There were, however, three or four
Common Mergansers, a Great Blue Heron, a couple of
Bald Eagles, and a dozen or more Glacuous-winged
Gulls.


Good birding!


Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch

near Lyman (Skagit County), Washington

garybletsch at yahoo.com


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