Dear Tweeters,

I tried today for the Say's Phoebe in Burlington, reported yesterday by John Pushcock. The intersection of I-5 and SR 20 is now an even louder, uglier, more industrial mess than usual, full of hard-hatted guys operating big, noisy machines. The only birds I could find here were a few American Crows.

At the Fir Island Game Range were two Greater Yellowlegs. I saw lots of Rufous Hummingbirds. There were also at least 300 Violet-green Swallows, with nary a Tree Swallow to be seen, oddly enough. I was hoping for a yellowthroat or a Lincoln's Sparrow, but they were not to be found.

Reminder to Tweeters--if you have a 2008-2009 Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife parking permit, tomorrow is its last day of validity.

Yours truly,

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