Yesterday (7/27) on my quick trip to Fields Riffle, I did see more than wierd beetles.

Several Spotted Sandpipers were down along the river, and several more inside the mouth of Norwegian Bay - the tide was out enough to expose mucho mud. One Spottie was escorting a single fuzzball youngster. Many Killdeer - this place is a real Killdeer magnet ; I counted about 35 just in the part of the bay I could see from the sandbar, undoubtably more in the inner bay. A single Semipalmated Plover was mixed in. Also about a half dozen Western Sandpipers.

>From the sandbar you can see an intriguing "cliff" downstream a bit, the upper section almost sheer (some tough glacial till) but underlying it is a softer layer - full of holes. I keep thinking "bank swallows" everytime I see it, although I havent seen one at Fields Riffle. Since I could see some of these holes thru binocs- they seemed probably more kingfisher sized. Tried driving around the other side of the river to get a closer look, but no access. I guess a canoe is in order.

Saw two Turkey Vultures over the start of Ebey Slough - where I saw three a week or two ago.

Stopped briefly at Dike 9 along Ebey Slough. No Eastern Kingbirds. But a pair of calling Pied-billed Grebes was nice. Then accross the ponds I saw a big rusty breasted shorebird half hidden in the grass. It stood there in the open for quite a while - then flew up; a Virginia Rail- a bird I havent seen for awhile, and I dont remember seeing one in flight before, at least in recent decades.

Jeff Gibson
Everett Wa