Dear Tweeters,

Oddly enough, today I found more shorebirds just hitting two spots in my neighborhood, than I did driving all around Skagit County yesterday: seven species in the Lyman area today, versus only five yesterday downriver.

The river bar off Lyman can be excellent during southbound shorebird migration. Today at this site, shorbirds included:

7 Killdeer;
2 Spotted Sandpipers;
4 Lesser Yellowlegs;
2 Greater Yellowlegs;
2 Long-billed Dowitchers;
24 Least Sandpipers.

With these birds were a Green Heron, 2 Mallards, and 11 Common Mergansers, plus quite a few other common birds. The mergansers were resting on a sandbar, and there were no spiffy males. I am thinking maybe all the males are in eclipse now, as is the case with the dabblers.

This spot can take patience, and it requires a scope. To get here, just go to downtown Lyman (about 11 miles east of Sedro-Woolley). Go south past the post office and tavern, then bend east along the river, and down a steep gravel access road to a little fishing access spot. The spot is apparently privately owned, but everyone goes there, parks, fishes, and so on, no problem.

Over at the "Milepost 73.8 Ponds," a Solitary Sandpiper foraged in the same spot where one often turns up in August, although earlier than usual. With it were a couple of Mallards and a Wood Duck--not bad for a pond the size of a large oriental rug!

This site is just west of Lyman, on the north side of Highway 20, and due north of mighty Lyman Elementary School. To bird it, you have to be headed west on the highway. You drive westbound, past the little collection of businesses (the storage place, the Old Mill Restaurant--as it is now called--the espresso stand, and the Cascade Mercantile)--and then pull over on the shoulder, which is just barely possible. It's often best to pull into the Mercantile first, wait for a gap in the cars, and then peel out. There is a tiny causeway that was put across the ponds in the late 1990's, but I advise against driving down it. It's private property, it blocks the access for the homes there, and you can't see any better there anyway. The pond with the shorebirds is invariable the tiny east pond; the west pond can have ducks in the winter, but for some reason rarely any shorebirds this time of year.

Yours truly,

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