Dear Tweeters,

Today, 13 April 2014, there was a Yellow-billed Loon at Samish Island Public Beach, also called the Day Use Area or DNR Park. I watched it through the scope from 1720-1735, but then it swam off. This was a big loon with?thick neck, pale head, big whitish-yellow bill with straight and pale culmen, angular shape to bill, and so forth.

At the Wood Sandpiper spot on the Samish Flats were some lovely breeding-plumage Dunlin and Black-bellied Plover, but I soon left them to spend 80 minutes staring into the sun, with nary a Ross's Goose in sight. There were about 3500 Snow Geese in the flock, coming closer and closer to my car, and I kept seeing certain individuals over again--but no little guys. The flock was at the place that people called the Dunlin Fields a few years ago, south of the Wood Sandpiper spot, but north of the west end of Darcy Road.

Also on Samish Flats were a couple of Barn Swallows and a Cliff Swallow.

In the morning, up at Bacon Creek, I heard a Blue Grouse and saw a Ruffed Grouse. At Corkindale was a single Townsend's Solitaire, but I was not able to find any bluebirds or phoebes upriver today.

At two upriver locations, I thought I might have heard?a Pine Siskin, but wasn't sure. I still haven't seen one this year.

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch