Whatcom Birders and Tweeters,

On Wednesday, October 28, I did a bit of birding in the vicinity of the
Nooksack River between Lynden and Nugent's Corner (i.e., the State Route 542
crossing).
The most interesting sighting was along State Route 544 (Columbia Street)
about a mile east of Everson. In a field north of Route 544, about 300 yards
from the road, was a flock of 6 TUNDRA SWANS (2 adults and 4 immatures) and
16 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE. The latter species is one that I've only
seen a couple of times previously in the county. I would have missed the
geese completely, except that I saw a couple of white lumps in the field
(which turned out to be the swans), did a U-turn, and was able to identify
both the swans and the geese with my spotting scope. I could see small
yellow spots on the bills of both adult swans, so I was certain they were
TUNDRA SWANS, which I assume was a single family.

I did see a few other swans flying about south of Lynden, which I assumed
were TRUMPETER SWANS, but which could just as easily have been TUNDRA
SWANS-- both species tend to arrive in very late October and early November.

There was also a flock of about 300 CACKLING GEESE feeding in a cornfield
along Nolte Road west of Everson.

And oh yes, I did manage to find one EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE right in Lynden
(my first in Whatcom County). Apparently, up to 3-4 birds are now being seen
regularly in Lynden, as well as the ones that Cindy Klein has been seeing
around her place. Not everyone is reporting their sightings!

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net