Dear Tweeters,

Today (14 April 2012) I bumped into Phil Wegener and Randy Knapp at Martin Road (Skagit County). Michael Willison came upon us at Corkindale, so we birded together up to Newhalem and Diablo.

Among the birds we saw today were 13 Mountain Bluebirds (all in Skagit County) and a Brewer's Sparrow.

There were 8 Mountain Bluebirds at Corkindale, four more at Marblemount Boat Launch, and one more that I found along the Concrete-Sauk Valley Road.

After scouring Newhalem and Diablo, the four of us split up, Randy and Phil having to return to Whatcom. Perhaps the coolest bird we'd seen at Diablo was a Western Meadowlark.

Michael and I went back to SR 20 from Diablo, made a left, then pulled into the tiny pullout on the south side of the lake, along the causeway, where a power-line pylon stands on a bit of fill between causeway and lake. There, foraging on rocky shoreline, was a BREWER'S SPARROW, along with a few Oregon Juncoes, Audubon's Warblers, and a White-crowned Sparrow.

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch

Gary Bletsch?Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA?garybletsch at yahoo.com?"Nun," sagte ich, "wenn ich ein Taugenichts bin, so ist's gut, so will ich in die Welt gehen, und mein Glueck machen." Und eigentlich war mir das recht lieb, denn es war mir kurz vorher selber eingefallen, auf Reisen zu gehen, da ich die Goldammer, welche im Herbst und Winter immer betruebt an unserm Fenster sang: "Bauer, miet' mich, Bauer, miet' mich!" nun in der schoenen Fruehlingszeit wieder ganz stolz und lustig vom Baume rufen hoerte: "Bauer, behalt' deinen Dienst!"