Dear Tweeters,

Today (11 December 2011) was a good day to see owls in Skagit County, though no Snowy Owls were in view.

At Rasar State Park, near the river at the SE corner of the site, a NORTHERN PYGMY OWL came over and got the songbirds even more stirred up than had my imitation of one. Also at Rasar were two American Dippers and a lot of Golden-crowned Kinglets, among other birds. I might add that I had the park almost entirely to myself, despite a tolerably pleasant morning with no precipitation and pretty good visibility.

At the Samish West Ninety, a Barn Owl was in the metal barn just north of the parking area. Two Short-eared Owls were out there hunting at midday. I also saw four Savannah Sparrows there.

An Eared Grebe rode the rough seas with a bunch of Horned Grebes at Samish Island Public Beach.

Dusk found me at the Game Range, where for the second Sunday in a row I was able to find a Great Horned Owl. This evening, both of the pair flew up into a large alder between the first and second ponds, along the new dike. Unlike last Sunday, I heard no vocalizations from them.

At the River's End Trail at the Game Range, once again there was quite an evening chorus of Virginia Rails calling. I kept wondering whether they were saying, in Virginia Rail Language, "Somebody remind me again why we are going to sleep in a half-frozen marsh?"

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch



Gary Bletsch?Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA?garybletsch at yahoo.com?Mentre che li occhi per la fronda verde
ficcava ?o s? come far suole
chi dietro a li uccellin sua vita perde, lo pi? che padre mi dicea: ?Figliuole,
vienne oramai, ch? ?l tempo che n?? imposto
pi? utilmente compartir si vuole?.??