Hey Tweets,

Was able to spend a day birding on San Juan Island on Sunday, finishing with 56 species on a sometimes drizzly but mostly beautiful day.

Some highlights of the trip: American Camp in the morning - I was able to watch three Short-eared Owls hunt well into light, along with two Bald Eagles and a Northern Harrier. A return trip and a hike down to Grandma's Cove later in the day, and I was able to finally find some Black Oystercatchers, which I'd been unable to find previously.

Cattle Point Lighthouse was the best spot for seabirds during the trip: Harlequin Duck, Red-Breasted Merganser, huge numbers of Common and Pacific Loons, Common Murres, Pigeon Guillemots, and a few Marbled Murrelets as well. The path to the lighthouse was also very sparrowy, and I saw a Merlin and a Sharp-shinned Hawk during this stop.

San Juan Valley Road and Bailer Hill Road had many flooded fields with a good mix of freshwater ducks, and Lake Zylstra also had three Canvasbacks.

Roche Harbor Road has lakes all along the side of the road, and one of them held over a dozen Trumpeter Swans.

Happy birding!

-Tim Brennan
Renton

http://39counties.blogspot.com/