I had to be up in Vancouver B.C. for business
which gave me an excuse to get in some birding
North rather than the recent concentration on the
coast. I hit Semiahmoo, Samish Flats, Eide Road
and Conway/Skagit areas. No time to be real
thorough but some good birds and it really did
seem like winter is close at hand. Some
highlights: Semiahmoo produced all three scoters
(150 Surf, 25 White Winged and a pair or Black),
Red Breasted Mergansers, 30 Bufflehead, 20
Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Loons, Western, Red
Necked and Horned Grebes, 6 Harlequin Ducks, 150+
Greater Scaup, Greater Yellowlegs, a Peregrine and
a large flock of Dunlin among others. (No Long
Tailed Ducks were seen.) Samish Flats had flyover
of thousands of Snow Geese but none seen on ground
(there were many hunters) 2 Short Eared Owls, 3
Northern Shrikes, 25+ Meadowlarks, 5 Bald Eagles,
7 Red Tailed Hawks, 12 Rough Legged Hawks, 8
Harriers, 4 flyby swans, a very large flock of
sandpipers, and one flooded field with 350
Mallards. Conway Skagit had 50+ swans (did not
scope for Tundra vs. Trumpeter), flyover Snow
Geese, a paucity of raptors and another Northern
Shrike. There were too many hunters at Eide Road
to try the ponds/wetlands but there were some
great raptors including at least 4 Rough Legs, two
of which - adult and immature, stayed together and
gave great photo ops, two Bald Eagles, a Red Tail,
and three Northern Harriers in addition to yet
another Northern Shrike. The best was a
Peregrine/Merlin combo on the highway bridge just
before the Eide turnoff. The two falcons almost
seemed to be hunting in tandem as they harassed
rock doves and starlings. I was hoping for some
exotic sparrows in the brush but found only Song,
Savanna, Fox and White Crowned.

--
Blair Bernson
Edmonds