Dear Tweeters,
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It never fails--the school year starts, and somebody finds a rare bird right when I have to go back to work! Today, 29?August 2012, I went out to Fir Island
in the late afternoon, to search for the cool birds that Marv Breece had found while I was sitting in meetings--no dice!
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The tide was very high when I got to Hayton Preserve, and although there were a few fun shorebirds there roosting on logs near the tide gate, I saw no trace
of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper. I noticed a tractor plowing up the field to the west, leaving lots of nice dirt for "dirtpipers," but it is very hard to view that field from
public lands. I hope they turn the fields to the east of Hayton into dirt fields soon--sometimes that brings in good flocks of shorebirds.
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Jensen Access was much better, although I could find no Franklin's Gull.?A juvenile RED KNOT flew in with?some Black-bellied Plovers to were rest on some floating logs. Also, the House Wren that I saw here a few days ago responded once again to pishing. They seem to show up here this time of year.
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Yours truly,
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Gary Bletsch
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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!"