Sharon Aagaard, Margaret Snell, Brian Bell and Hugh Jennings went on the annual Whidbey Wing-Dings Bird- A-Thon fund raiser for Eastside Audubon. It was cloudy, cool and windy from 6 a.m. to noon. Then the wind died down and we had a some sunshine the rest of the day. We took the 0630 ferry from Mukilteo to Clinton, birded our way up Whidbey Island and then came back by way of the Skagit and Stillaguamish valleys. We had a great morning with 94 species by lunch. Then it got more difficult with only 6 more species in the next 4 hours. However we ended with the final 8 species in two hours. Some of the best birds are shown in bold type.



At the Mukilteo ferry area we started with Glaucous-winged Gulls, Rock Pigeons, Pelagic Cormorants, Pigeon Guillemots, American Crow, Caspian Tern, Bald Eagle, House Sparrow, Surf Scoter, Canada Goose and Great Blue Heron. On arriving at the Clinton ferry dock we added Double-crested Cormorant and Rhinoceros Auklet.



Along Campbell Road we stopped at a few wooded areas and saw and/or heard White-crowned Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Black-headed Grosbeak, Purple Finch, Northern Flicker, Swainson?s Thrush, Brown Creeper, Bewick?s Wren, Rufous Hummingbird, Olive-sided Flycatcher (1st of about 5 we saw), Steller?s Jay, Pacific Wren, Western Tanager, Hairy Woodpecker, Wilson?s Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, American Robin and European Starling.



The Ewing Road ponds were good for 4 swallow species, Osprey, American Bittern, Common Raven, Savannah Sparrow, Mourning Dove, Red-winged Blackbird, Rock Pigeon, Pied-billed Grebe, Marsh Wren, Killdeer, Ring-necked Duck, Gadwall, House Finch, American Coot, Northern Harrier, American Goldfinch and Yellow Warbler.



The Sunlight Beach Deer Lagoon was all mud flats due to low tide. It took a lot of time to find a Whimbrel and some Dunlin. The dike at the east side of the lagoon was better. There we saw Greater Scaup, Greater White-fronted Geese, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Brown-headed Cowbird, Western Sandpiper, Common Merganser, Northern Harrier and Belted Kingfisher. At the nearby Lincoln St. access to Useless Bay we saw Red-tailed Hawk flying over, Bonaparte?s Gulls on the beach, Virginia Rails squawking loudly near the boardwalk and Eurasian Collared-Dove nearby.



The Earth Sanctuary was quite birdy with Hooded Merganser, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Warbling Vireo, Bushtit, Black-capped Chickadee, Downy Woodpecker, Western Wood-Pewee, Wilson?s Warbler, Pileated Woodpecker, Orange-crowned Warbler.



Double Bluff Road and Beach was good for Brewer?s Blackbird, Red-breasted Merganser, Horned Grebe, Surf Scoter, Pacific Loon, Golden-crowned Sparrow and California Quail. While the ponds from the dike were good for Ruddy Duck, Bufflehead, House Sparrow and Northern Shoveler.



Crockett Lake water level was high with few mudflats, not shorebirds and only a few ducks. We ate lunch at Fort Casey State Park. We couldn?t find the resident GREAT HORNED OWL , but did hear the House Wren. We saw our only Turkey Vulture over the fields near Ebey Landing. The Penn Cove mussel rafts were not productive, probably due to the activity resulting from the derelict boat that sank near there. But we did see Harlequin Ducks.



Our stop at Partridge Pt. resulted in a Black Oystercatcher flying by and Brandt & Pelagic Cormorants on the water. The water in Bos L. was higher than normal, but we did see more Greater White-fronted Geese. Oak Harbor Marina did not have anything new, so it was on to Dugualla Bay dike. Again, the very high tide left very little shoreline, but a lone Spotted Sandpiper was feeding along the shore of on the lake side.



Rosario Beach SP provided better looks at Black Oystercatcher and also saw Pine Siskin and a female Bullock?s Oriole. We drove on thru the Skagit Valley and took Dodge Valley Road to the Rancho Valentine house. We had close looks at California Quail and got our first Anna?s Hummingbird and heard another House Wren. We stopped by the Skagit WMA ponds and found a pair of Cinnamon Teal and another Spotted Sandpiper. We looked for the Black-crowned Night-Heron in Stanwood without success and proceeded on to Eide Rd. We stopped near the top of the road right after it leaves the highway and scoped the wet areas. We were rewarded right away with a Blue-winged Teal, 3 beautiful Wilson?s Phalaropes and 5 Semipalmated Sandpipers. While at the end of the road, a flock of 40-50 Long-billed Dowitchers flew over from the east side of the dike.



We finished with a drive east on Norman Road. The first large pond on the north side of the road was good for Wood Duck, 12 Pectoral Sandpipers, American Wigeon and another Blue-winged Teal. We got back to the P&R about 8:15 p.m. after a good day of birding resulting in 108 species.