Dear Tweeters,

Today there were some American Coots of several ages at the Skagit Regional Airport ponds. This little site is at the corner of Higgins Airport Way and Water Tank Road, south of Josh Wilson Road and west of Burlington. I saw an adult coot or two, plus at least two immatures that were nearly adult-sized. There was also a much smaller juvenile, so I am thinking that the coots must have had two broods here.

While I was looking at the coots, an adult Virginia Rail stepped out of the reeds, not far from the edge of the road. A little black baby rail was barely visible over the tops of the lawn grass at the adult's feet. They soon retreated into the marsh. I made a pathetic attempt at imitating a Virginia Rail, and lo and behold, the rail answered me! I now have a lifetime batting average of about .020 on calling up rails by means of my voice and/or hand-claps.

At Rosario Head there was a thick fog all morning. I did see an adult Black Oystercatcher making food runs, so I am guessing this is the same bird that was bringing food to two juveniles a week and a half ago here. A fun birdwatching spot near the parking area is a rivulet of fresh water that flows toward the brush and the beach, between the picnic shelters. Songbirds have been visitng this trickle lately. Today, I observed a Rufous Hummingbird bathing in this water. I don't think I've seen that before.

By the time I reached Green Point in Anacortes, the fog had lifted. There were hundreds of gulls offshore at what I am guessing was a ball of forage fish. Five gull species joined in: lots of Glaucous-winged, about five each of California, Mew, and Heermann's, plus a lone Ring-billed. There were scores of Rhinoceros Auklets out there, plus two Pigeon Guillemots and at least nine Marbled Murrelets. I also saw all three cormorant species, although there were only a very few Brandt's.

At Channel Drive, the high tide filled the slough and covered the mud, and there were very few shorebirds. I did see four Spotted Sandpipers, plus one or two each of Least and Western Sandpiper. For my third consectutive visit here, I saw an adult Accipiter that I was unable to identify. This raptor has been getting quite a reaction from the songbirds. It's a Sharpie or a Cooper's, but I never seem to get a good enough look. Also of interest were at least three Northern Harriers, and a flock of at least 40 Cedar Waxwings.

Finally, one shorebirding possibility might be worth mentioning. Last winter (I think that's when it was), somebody saw a Cattle Egret at Channel Drive. I believe someone else saw it across the channel from there, in some ag land. From SR 20 as I drove over the Duane Berenson [spelling?] bridge near the Swinomish Casino today, I could see a large area of mud that has been dredged up along the west shore of the channel. This is near the ponds and fields that hosted that egret, and might be worth checking out, since the drought has left us so few puddles for shorebirds. To reach this spot, one would have to park at one of the "closed" legs of the traffic circle south of SR 20, then walk out along the channel.

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch

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