A friend, Kurt, and I went up to both the Skagit and Samish Flats
(hence, "Skamish") to look for a few target birds and hopefully find
some others, which indeed we did. The targets and scores: Black
Phoebe (1/2 - a very fleeting look in the rain, so I won't say for
sure that it was there), Short-eared Owl (1 on Fir Island at the
marked Fish & Wildlife site with parking lot and tree that used to
have a huge eagle nest in it, across from "Cowtown"); 6-8 SEOW at
West 90 near Samish Is., Rough-legged Hawk (2 at West 90), "Edison"
Merlin (present from 5:30 - 6 p.m.), Snow Goose (a couple thousand
swarming around in the sky near the N. Fork of the Skagit R. and the
confluence of Fir Is. Rd. and Best Rd. and settling down some place we
never saw).

Other birds we saw that we enjoyed (*means we saw multiples in one or
several spots in Skamish area) -


at Wylie Slough (Skagit Game Refuge Headqtrs):

Golden-crowned Sparrow
*Dark-eyed Junco
*American Robin
Northern Flicker
Steller's Jay
*Violet-green Swallow
*Green-winged Teal
*Pintail Duck
*Mallard
*American Wigeon
*Great Blue Heron
Double-crested Cormorant (along Mann Rd. on way to refuge hdqtrs)
Northern Shoveler
*Trumpeter Swan (overhead, flying west at Wylie, and small groups in
fields around the Skamish)
and... a new hawk nest in the grove where the Great Horned Owl used to
nest

at the site off Fir Is. Rd. across from "Cowtown" (site name forgotten):

*Bald Eagle (around 30 total)
*Red-tailed Hawk
*Northern Harrier (only 1/2 dozen or so total)


on the way to Rawlins Rd. dike:

Northern Shrike (on a wire)


in Edison, near the bend in Samish Slough:

*Common Raven
House Finch
*Eurasian Collared Dove
Band-tailed Pigeon


at West 90 (where Bayview-Edison Rd. turns into Samish Is. Rd.):

besides the wondrous flying, displaying, hovering, gliding, head-
turning, ground-and post-perching, and calling Short-eared Owls (and
N. Harriers), and besides the 2 Rough-legged Hawks, 2 Red-tailed Hawks
and many Bald Eagles that were there, the following added to the
serene springlike feel of the scene that evening: a major frog chorus,
many Red-winged Blackbirds and a beautiful sky woven of color and
cloud. Although there was negligible wind, the chilly air reminded us
that we were still very close to that, oh, so long and drawn-out
winter season that was "officially" over.


Kurt and I capped off a fine afternoon and evening of Skamish birding
with a tasty meal at the Old Edison Inn before we headed home. A
"convergence zone" squall near Everett gave way to dry pavement by the
time we arrived back in Seattle. Our spirits were renewed (and only
momentarily dampened) by this delightful outing.

Cheers to all.


Barb Deihl

North Matthews Beach - NE Seattle

barbdeihl at comcast.net