Yesterday, Larry Moss and I spent a greater part of the day birding
in various locations throughout western Whatcom County. The weather
was brisk and cool but it was sunny the whole time with no fog in the
areas we visited. This turned out to be a good day to begin our New
Years birding lists starting at Semiahmoo Spit searching for
waterfowl, then working our way down to Birch Bay and finally ending
up on the Lummi Indian Reservation at Sandy Heights and the Lummi
Flats. We ended up with a total of 53 species for the day, with the
highlight being an aerial display of 15+ (probably many more in the
vicinity) Short-eared Owls and quite a few Northern Harriers over the
grassy fields on the Lummi Flats.
Some of the better sightings included:

Semiahmoo Spit:

EARED GREBE - a pair of them
PEREGRINE FALCON - one at the end of the spit
DUNLIN - a large flock resting on a wooden pier (a few SANDERLINGS amongst them)

Birch Bay:

BLACK SCOTER - a small group of 3
HARLEQUIN DUCK - 7 birds
HOODED MERGANSER - 5 birds

Sandy Heights / Arm - Lummi Indian Reservation:

PURPLE FINCH
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK
EURASIAN WIGEON - picked out 3 individuals in a large flock of AMERICAN WIGEON

Lummi Flats:

SHORT-EARED OWL - At the least 15+ birds
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS - Common all over the flats
TRUMPETER SWANS - A small group of 23 birds in some fields about 1
mile east of the Lummi Reservation Casino


Cheers and Good Birding;

Michael Fleming
Ballard, Washington
michaelfleming01 AT gmail.com