Started into the Samish part of the Skamish on the Josh Wilson Rd, to
the portal leading to Edison on the Farm-to-Mkt. Rd. - fairly bird-
free - fewer raptors than along the freeway going up there. I hoped
the dead redtail in my lane just outside of Everett, wasn't a sign of
any more unpleasantness to come. It wasn't. As I sidled into Edison,
whom should I see but Ms. Merlina (the female "Light" Merlin), sitting
quietly in the large deciduous tree right next to the conifers from
which she is usually seen hunting. She didn't stay there but a minute
- I next found her atop the middle Douglas fir, gazing out to the
west. Then she was gone - it was about 2:30. I checked out the
slough behind the F-t-M Bakery, and all that greeted my gaze were
dozens of Green-winged Teal lolling about, head-under-wing in the mud
of low tide. Headed down Bayview-Edison Rd. slowly (everyone was
driving Sundayish today) - one harrier, 2 eagles and 2 redtails -
yawn...

On to West 90 - a half dozen cars in the lot and a cluster of birding
types, plus one not-as-interested teenage boy in basketball shorts,
looking out from the paved trail. Turned out Dennis and Martha, two
of the people who had done some Barn Owl-watching with me in Seattle,
were among the birders. It was nice to see them. When I asked the
birders what they were seeing, they mentioned a Rough-legged Hawk they
were watching kite around - I saw him hover - it was one of those
light, beautiful ones. I later saw it perched in a tree to the south
of the parking lot. Northern Harriers in semi-abundance, weaving
about. A couple of Ravens calling out with that distinctive echo-y,
bell-like "kronk". And finally, the emergence of the feisty, or maybe
it was the courting, but nonetheless flopping, sometimes high-flying
show-stealers, the Shorteared Owls (3 or 4 that I saw - the others had
seen them a bit before I arrived, about 3 p.m.) "e-e-e-YIP" and a
rougher-sounding bark was heard out there in the periphery where they
were. It was nice to have them back. One kept landing in a small tree/
bush, a behavior I haven't noticed before, but a friend saw and
photographed on Friday in a field off Eide Rd. in Stanwood. I tried
to digiscope it, but, as usual, the distance, thermal distortion and a
couple of other excuses, turned the shots into indistinguishable,
fuzzy dots. Turned out I figured out that the Northern Shrike I
proudly showed off through my scope, was this same Shortear - my sense
of perspective and distance wasn't too good, I guess. Hope no one
there added the shrike to their list 'o' day or year!

After leaving West 90 and coasting into a gas station for a petrol
fill (not Petrel), I drove to the other part of the Skamish, the
Skagit Flats, where I zipped out to the Rawlins Road dike for sunset
and one more Short-eared Owl show. The 3 owls I saw were also flying
in each others' faces. A couple of people who came in from the field/
marsh said they had been watching some owl/harrier hassling as well as
owl/owl. The owls called out for awhile and then, as the sky
darkened, they stopped and a distant Great Horned Owl over near the
resort hill, sang taps, the hooter version.

Oh yeah, there were some other birds seen, but nothing too exciting,
except the possible Gyrfalcon that flew across the Josh Wilson Rd. -
oops, another mistaken identification - make that a juvenile Bald
Eagle...

A plain, nice day in the Skamish - my photos echo this description -
I'll post a link to them later.

Barb Deihl

North Matthews Beach - NE Seattle

barbdeihl at comcast.net