Subject: [Tweeters] Skagit Least Fly, Redstarts
Date: Aug 7 17:48:31 2009
From: Gary Bletsch - garybletsch at yahoo.com


Dear Tweeters,

Today was a superb day to look for migrants in Skagit County. Highlights included a LEAST FLYCATCHER, good numbers of Lazuli Buntings, single AMERICAN REDSTARTS at two different places, Bullock's Orioles, and BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS.

At DeBay's Slough, yesterday's bird that I figured was a LEAST FLYCATCHER was more cooperative today. It came in as I played a tape. Today, it only gave a very few "chebec" songs, compared to yesterday, but I got a look at the bird, and also heard it calling "prep!" a bunch of times, in response to the tape. This call note sounded exactly like the one on my National Geo cassette.

Surprisingly, there was another very good bird right there. A male AMERICAN REDSTART was singing and tail-flitting in the same spot.

To get to DeBay's Slough, take SR 9 south from Sedro-Woolley. Just as you have to slow down for the town of Clear Lake, take a right (go west) onto Francis Road. The WDFW access is straight ahead at the first 90-degree turn. I saw the bird from the access road. If there are lots of birders, people could park at the lot right on Francis Road and walk in about 200 meters. If nobody's there (the usual situation), just drive in, crossing the slough, and park near the gate. Walk back toward the slough. Both birds were in the woods on the north side of the road and west of the slough. At the flycatcher-redstart spot, there is a paper cup that says "Blizzard" on it, on the ground; I also made a tiny cairn there.

At Northern State Recreation Area, there was a remarkable flock of migrants in the afternoon. This was at the little trail that goes straight toward the smokestack of Vaux's Swift fame. At the edge of Hansen Creek here, the following migrants all came in and swarmed around me, as I ventured a Glaucidium gambit:

Willow Flycatcher, 1;
Western Wood-Pewee, 1;
Steller's Jay, 1;
Red-eyed Vireo, 1;
Black-capped Chickadee, 4;
Bushtit, at least 35;
Swainson's Thrush, 1;
American Robin, 1;
Bewick's Wren, 1;
Wilson's Warbler, at least 7;
Orange-crowned Warbler, at least 4;
AMERICAN REDSTART, 1 female;
Lazuli Bunting, 1 male;
Western Tanager, 3;
Black-headed Grosbeak, 3.

All of these birds were calling and hopping about the shrubs right in front of me at the same time--it was like being in the Neotropics!

At the river access in Lyman, there were some shorebirds, and luckily today no Merlin. Among the Least Sandpipers were three BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS, as well as one or two Westerns (the one I couldn't ID might have been a Semipalmated). Meanwhile, a female Bullock's Oriole was feeding blackberries to at least one juvenile, right on the riverbank where I was standing!

At Cockreham Island, the south pond has completely dried up, except for some dampness. I have never seen this happen before. On the bright side, there was a flock of 8 Lazuli Buntings foraging at the roadside near the farmhouse here. Among these buntings was a single adult male, a nice-looking immature male, an adult female, and at least four juveniles.

Phew!

Yours truly,

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