After successfully locating the TROPICAL KINGBIRD in Bellingham on Wednesday
11/10, my wife and I stopped at the West 90 on the Samish Flats on the way
south. Getting off I-5 at Bow Hill Road, we drove through Bow and on to
Edison. We did make the required stop at the Edison Bakery, but dipped on
the Merlin. Continuing out of town and turning west on Samish Island Road,
is when the raptor show really began. We saw three RED-TAILED HAWKS,
NORTHERN HARRIERS all over and an adult BALD EAGLE having lunch on the banks
of Edison Slough. By the time we reached the West 90, we had several more
Red-tails and Northern Harriers. We were greeted by a PEREGRINE FALCON
flying over the field on the south side of the road, just before we arrived
at the West 90.

There was a lone birder scoping the area from the end of the paved trail. It
turned out to be Barb Deihl of North Seattle Merlin fame. She told us that
there had been a couple of SHORT-EARED OWLS out flying a little earlier. and
a group of birders had seen a NORTHERN GOSHAWK out towards the East 90. We
did not get to see them, however while sitting in the car having lunch, we
had brief views of a brown phased GYRFALCON chasing a NORTHERN HARRIER.
Gregg Thompson had also driven up, but had gone off again. When he returned,
he also had seen the same large falcon pursuing another harrier. There also
where at least three or more ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS hunting and hovering in the
area. As we drove south on Bayview-Edison Road, we spotted another PEREGRINE
FALCON sitting in a field across the road from the flooded field. It seemed
to ask: "Where did they all go?" - since there was not a single Dunlin in
sight.

In addition to the raptors, there were several GREAT BLUE HERONS in the
fields. It seems, that there is a large rodent population in the area this
fall. I have never seen as many NORTHERN HARRIERS in this area or anywhere
else. Several times I had three of them in my binoculars at the same time!
In addition to rodents, a large mixed flock of Blackbirds at West 90,
received the attention of the harriers.

We drove over to Green Point, Washington Park in Anacortes for an
unsuccessful attempt to see the ANCIENT MURRELETS reported there by several
observers. We seemed to be there at the top of high tide, with very little
tidal movement of the water. Most birds seemed to be just loafing and not
diving for food. We did have a number of MARBLED MURRELETS, a single
RHINOCEROS AUKLET and single PIGEON GUILLEMOT, SURF SCOTERS, COMMON LOONS,
RED-NECKED -, WESTERN - and HORNED GREBES, DOUBLE-CRESTED -, PELAGIC - and
BRANDT'S CORMORANTS, CANADA GEESE and GLAUCOUS-WINGED - , MEW -, RING-BILLED
- and BONAPARTE'S GULLS.

Our final stop ,shortly after dark, was at the end of Rawlins Road. When I
got out of the car, after successfully turning around on the narrow road, I
was privileged to overhear the lively conversation of two GREAT HORNED OWLS
in the woods across the Skagit River. discussing the evening's dinner plans.
I have heard them at this location many times before. Leaving my wife in the
car, I climbed up on the dike and turned to the right. Scanning the area
towards the river, I saw the light shapes of two SHORT-EARED OWLS flying
about like ghosts. I also spotted a third SHORT-EARED OWL hunting out in
front of me, dropping to the ground and coming back up empty-handed. ...and
so ended a great day of birding - what a hoot!

Good Birding!

Hans Feddern
Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA.
thefedderns at gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20101112/94e39772/attachment.htm