Rob,


Thanks for your post. I have spent much time on the Samish flats. A million is probably too high- I usually see hundreds to a few thousand at peak winter times. Falcons (very commonly adult Peregrines; occasionally, Merlins and Prairie falcons) are often present at that site, hunting Dunlin. In general, if you see large groups of shorebirds, especially Dunlin, at a site on a regular basis, you will eventually find falcons.


Dan Reiff,
Mercer Island
"Dan Reiff, PhD" <notcalm at comcast.net>;




----- Original Message -----
From: "Rob Blomquist" <rob.blomquist at gmail.com>
To: "tweeter" <Tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Monday, February 1, 2010 6:05:06 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: [Tweeters] Skagit/Fidalgo trip

Today was my off day (as usual) so I took a run up to see about birding
Fildago Island/Deception pass. I meet a birder there that recommended a
park near Samish Island, which I never found. Apparently the stairs are
broken down. It was a fun trip, but no raptors and only a few tree birds
caught my attention it mostly sounded like Chicadees.

Getting off 5, and on to 20, I saw my biggest flock of Snow Geese
(~100), they were within a mile of I5. I stopped at the Casino to gas up
($2.65/gallon) and took a quick look, the tide was high and ebbing, only a few
Common Goldeneye to be found. Nest stop, Pass Lake to look for Wood
Ducks, which there were none, and surprised 4 Double Crested Cormorant s
sunning on log near where I parked, 4 Common Goldeneye, and some Common Mergangers were around. At Rosairo Head/Bowman Ray I found a solo Black Oyster Catcher, 2 Common Goldeneyes, and a trio of Common Mergansers 2 in breeding plumage a pair of Bewick's Wren caught my attention. . Western Gulls were every where. It was leaving there, that I was redirected to Samish Island, and I head out.

On the Bayview Edison road, I saw a man with a scope in camo, and stopped. It turned out to be Dunlin maybe 10,000 or more (I heard one estimate of 1 million) right in a farmers wet field.

I headed on to Samish Island and found only no trespassing signs. Leaving via Sammish Island road, I found about 100 American Wigeon on the salt. I stopped at Bayview SP Picnic area, and found nothing but Gulls, and stopped at Eide Road, but nothing interesting was going on. I stopped at Kayak Point, but a drive of the parking lot showed little so I passed on the $5 parking fee, and head home. A lousy day for raptors.

Any trips or interested partys for Monday runs 0-dark to 5pm or earlier, would be enjoyed. Let me know.


--
Rob Blomquist
Mountlake Terrace, WA


--
Rob Blomquist
Mountlake Terrace, WA
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