After reading Ryan Merrill's post last week, I decided it was about time to head up to Skagit County and look for a few ot those great birds that he had seen. It turned out to be a good day with regards to the weather, which brought out lots of people including birders, hunters, and people just driving and sight seeing. The highlight of the day for me was actually at the end when I was at the North Fork Access on Fir Island watching SHORT-EARED OWLS. I had one owl that was perched quite close providing super views and another that was perched a little further off and was calling - a nice way to end a day of birding.
One of my target birds for the day was the TUFTED DUCK that had been seen on Erie Lake. It took me two attempts to locate this bird. In the later morning I spent 30 minutes looking for it to no avail. I decided to go down to Rosario Beach State Park for a while and on my return stopped again at Erie Lake to look for the duck. After about 5 minutes I found it; a little persistance paid off. As it turns out later in the day I ran into Gary Bletsch at Samish Island Park where we birded for a short time together. I missed the American Tree Sparrow at the Skagit WMA Headquarters. A few of my sightings during the day included:
TUFTED DUCK - Erie Lake
LONG-TAILED DUCK - Samish Island Park
PEREGRINE FALCON - West 90
BLACK OYSTERCATCHER - 3 of them at Rosario Beach State Park
MARBLED MURRELET - A pair at Rosario Beach State Park
SHORT-EARED OWL - Nice looks at these 2 birds
BLUE JAY - continuing on Valentine Road - LaConner area
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK - at several locations on the Samish Flats
Cheers and Good Birding;

Michael Fleming
Ballard, Washington
Michael-Fleming AT myway.com

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