Yesterday (Wed., 12/21/11), friend Ron and I enjoyed an afternoon
drive to the Samish Flats, ending up in the Skagit Flats at sundown,
but ultimately finishing off our adventures around Stanwood for some
exploration in the dark, low fog, bitter cold and some mud. We found a
Short-eared Owl on a tall pole at Eide Rd. (about 7:15 p.m.) and heard
lot of Snow Geese and Trumpeter Swans, but no Snowy Owls came out to
greet us and we decided not to walk out anywhere in the dark, through
the mud and freezing fog, to find them. Paul Cozens reported seeing 4
out there during daylight, so we'll check on them again another day.

Most interesting and exciting find was the 2 light Merlins, one near
Samish Island and the other an hour later in Edison. Will have to do
some more investigation to see if they are 2 different female Merlins,
or just one, hunting in different areas.

A good day for photos, and some nice sightings and good company.
Everyone was smiling yesterday!

The photos are in the following 2 sets in my Flickr acct. :

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjxxcCrx

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjxxfiW8

Have a swell holiday time!


Barb Deihl

North Matthews Beach - NE Seattle

barbdeihl at comcast.net

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