February dished up some interesting sightings for Edmonds. No new species has been seen and there have been no existing code 5 (fewer than 5 records) birds seen. Code 4 (rare, 5+ records) sightings include Wood Duck at Pine Ridge Park (high of five) and Chase Lake (a pair), an American Kestrel at Chase Lake, and a Western Meadowlark near the marsh. Code 3 (harder to find but usually seen annually) sightings were Peregrine Falcon twice at the marsh, Eurasian Collared-Dove once at the marsh, and Common Raven in a neighborhood along 220th St. SW. Our code 2 (uncommon) sighting was one of the Barred Owls in Yost Park. Another code 2 species, Virginia Rail, was heard grunting in the Pine Ridge Park marshy area. Although it is a code 1 (common) species, we have only recently added a lone Northern Shoveler to the year list.

It was not new to February, but there have been a number of Wilson's Snipe sightings at the marsh this month. The numbers have been unusually large for this location. There was one observation of four snipes and another of five snipes. Other locations have been reporting swallows. We have not seen any yet, other than the winter Barn Swallows.

On the waterfront, Harlequin Ducks (code 3) continue in small numbers north of the underwater park, seen from Sunset Avenue. Brants are foraging along the shore north of the ferry dock. With afternoon ebb tides right now, it is possible to walk north along the beach and observe them at closer range.

We have reached 100 species for the first two months of 2015. If you would like a copy of the revised checklist, with species abundance codes, please email us at checklistedmonds at gmail dot com. We will send you a PDF that you can print or just save to your computer. There are significant differences between the Edmonds and Snohomish County checklists. If you bird Edmonds frequently, or even occasionally, it can be a useful tool.

May March bring many good birds,

Carol Riddell
Edmonds, Wa