Hi Tweets,

It was a good day birding, of course any day birding is a good day. I visited Iverson Spit on Camano Is. Forbes Road Dike on the Snohomish River, and the Fill.
The highlights at Iverson were the raucous Caspian Terns, and a very approachable Virginia Rail. It allowed me to get as close as 10 feet. Of course there was a stream between us, maybe he knew that. Anyway he just continued with his business while I sat there and took photos. It was good until a couple of folks came up behind me and said "what are you taking pictures of". Back into the bushes went the Rail. Oh well, it was awesome for a few minutes.

At Forbes road there wasn't anything unusual. The Eastern Kingbirds are still fly catching and the GBH's are still catching frogs.

The Fill today was pretty exciting. A Merlin was chasing birds all over the area. This guy was very fast and agile. I didn't see him catch anything, but I was sure out of breath running from one end of the Central Pond to the other trying to get a photo. The smaller birds also had a workout. I'm too old for this. On the calmer side there was a very docile Lesser Yellowlegs on the Southwest side of the Central Pond. It actually walked up to me.

Photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdhouse_wa/sets/72157621967925008/<http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdhouse_wa/sets/72157621967925008/>

Good Birding
Doug Parrott
Edmonds Wa
bird_cage at msn.com<mailto:bird_cage at msn.com>