Dear Tweeters,

In between rain squalls, I did some shorebirding today in Skagit County. Channel Drive had nine species of shorebirds--with no Killdeer to be found. There were about 250 to 350 Westerns, a very few Leasts, two Baird's (my first of the year), 21 Lesser and six or eight Greater Yellowlegs, a Spotted Sandpiper (with no spots), a couple of Long-billed and a half-dozen or so Short-billed Dowitchers, and two Wilson's Phalaropes. A Sora fed very boldly out in the open, along the edge of the marsh vegetation. A Cooper's Hawk tried to pretend it was a falcon, but did not come up with any shorebirds. I left just as two Northern Harriers came by to try their luck. I did not see any ducks here, which surprised me, since there had been a nice little mixed flock of dabblers here pretty much all summer long.

At the slough between East Edison and Edison were a handful of Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, a small flock of peeps (mainly Leasts, with a few Westerns), a few Long-billed Dowitchers, and a Wilson's Phalarope. No Killdeer here, either! Here there were Mallards in eclipse plumage, a lone Blue-winged Teal, and a few Cinnamon Teal. I could not find the Northern Shovellers that had raised young here this summer.

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch ? Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA ? garybletsch at yahoo.com ? ?

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