Dear Jonathan and Tweeters,
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628 sounds like a non-piddling number to me!
?
I am telling everyone when the topic of grebes comes up, that I have seen ZERO Western Grebes in Skagit County this year, despite my usual scores of annual trips looking at the birds off our coasts and in our lakes and rivers. This is the species I am worried about more than most others around here, so it is heartening to hear there are still good rafts of them.
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Yours truly,

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!"


>________________________________
> From: Jonathan Bent <bent.jonathan at gmail.com>
>To: "tweeters at u.washington.edu" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2013 3:08 PM
>Subject: [Tweeters] Raft of Western Grebes on Saratoga Passage
>
>
>
>Hi Tweeters,
>
>
>I'm dog-sitting at the in-laws' house on the east side of Whidbey Island about five miles north of Langley, and in between bouts of typing, I've had some time to scope Saratoga Passage for birds. Over the past few weeks we've had fairly large numbers of Bonaparte's Gulls--100+--but today's Western Grebe numbers dwarfed these--just 10 minutes ago I counted 628! Though I know WEGR often assemble en masse, this is easily the largest number of them I've ever seen together. (I eagerly await responses from lifelong birders about how these are piddlingly small numbers!)
>
>
>Also on the passage today: 1 Red-necked Grebe, 2 White Winged Scoters, 7 Horned Grebes, assorted gulls, 5 Common Loons.
>
>
>It seems like a day of plenty... as I sit here typing I'm overwhelmed by 20+ Red-breasted Nuthatches moving through the property, engaging in some of their more complex vocalizations as they chase each other from trunk to trunk. Also, 10 or so Red Crossbills.?
>
>
>What a beautiful day...
>
>
>Jonathan Bent
>Bitter Lake and Whidbey Island
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