Dear Tweeters,

Today I saw 12 species of shorebirds in Skagit County. Numbers were low in most places, though. The two best spots were behind the Longhorn Saloon in Edison, and the river at Lyman.

Killdeer: here and there a few, with 9 at the river in Lyman;
Black-bellied Plover, 1, showing lots of black, at Jensen Access;
Black Oystercatcher, 2 at Green Point (Washington Park in Anacortes);
Spotted Sandpiper, a few each at Channel Drive, Edison, and Lyman;
SOLITARY SANDPIPER, one along riverbank vegetation in Lyman, new location for me;
Greater Yellowlegs, oddly hard to find, one at Lyman, maybe one heard in Edison;
Lesser Yellowlegs, several each at West Edison, Edison, and Lyman;
Wilson's Snipe, my first migrant of the season, at river in Lyman;
Long-billed Dowitcher, one at West Edison;
Western Sandpiper, over 100 by Longhorn Saloon in Edison;
Least Sandpipers here and there, including 20 at Edison, 45 at Lyman;
Semipalmated Sandpipers, 4 or 5 by the Longhorn Saloon in Edison.

Other highlights included:
American Bittern, one flying at Hayton Preserve;
Green-winged Teal, 4 at Lyman, including a non-eclipse male;
Peregrine Falcon, 1 at Channel Drive (plus one trailing jesses on Samish Flats);
Heermann's Gull, 5 at Green Point;
Marbled Murrelet, 6 at Green Point, including at least one juvenile;
Warbling Vireo, one at DeBay's Slough.

Yours truly,

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