Hi Tweeters,

I had a couple of hours to kill this morning before picking up my son a bit north of Seattle, so I drove to Eide Rd. in Stanwood. Unfortunately, the tide was on the way out and only a few shorebirds were present. While there, I ran into fellow birder George, who I had met a couple of years ago while twitching the Summer Tanager in Seattle. Here are some of the species that I saw:

Red-necked Phalarope (a pair already in nonbreeding plumage); Greater Yellowlegs; Long-billed Dowitcher; Least Sandpiper; some common passerine species including a few House Wrens, a young Brown-headed Cowbird, and numerous Savannah Sparrows; Bald Eagle; N. Harrier; Red-tailed Hawk; and Mallard (no other species of duck were present). We walked along a footpath paralleling the dike and, after skirting a small pond, followed the trail to the right to where it ended by another small pond. In the dense vegetation on the dike, we surprised (and were surprised by) a Barn Owl, that flushed as we walked by.

I'll have to go back there soon when the tide is coming in to see what other shorebirds turn up.

Good birding,

Lonnie Somer
Kent
wheelermombi at comcast.net