Hi Tweets - took a lovely ride in the 1-pm Friday northbound jam-up on I-5 (!!) to take a look for shorebirds at Eide Road on Leque Is. near Stanwood. All of the ponds were totally dry and bird-free. One Red-tailed Hawk and one GBH was about if for birds in the 83 degree heat. Figuring there'd be a little more water at Wylie Slough (Skagit WMA) on Fir Island, I headed there and arrived at about 3 pm to find no mudflats exposed and no shorebirds to be seen. I walked the dike from the western parking lot past the new pumping station and the new blind (many ducks there, in drab late summer plumes), to where the new outer dike takes off to the west (right, If you're walking out). There, to the left, in the southern part of the largest pond, several small logs extend out into and over the water, providing a nice roost for some of the larger shorebirds. There were over 30 Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, about equally split, 7 or 8 Dowitchers, and two juvenile Stilt Sandpipers. The latter were noticeably smaller than the LEYE and had scalloped or scaly and brownish back and wings, contrasting with the spotted grayer look of the Yellowlegs. The Stilts had relatively heavy, long and downward curving bills, which they mostly kept tucked in in that famous shy sandpiper pose! Sounds like Gary Bletsch may have seen the same two birds a couple of hours earlier today. Will put some pix on the ebird list in a day or so. Happy Birding! - Jon