Birding this weekend, a few good birds to report -;

Saturday 16 Dec
2-3 Red Phalarope off Cattle Point on San Juan Island -;
After the windy night, not super surprising to have them blow in, but still a good San Juan Co bird -; 2-3 off Cattle Point, near Goose Island. Otherwise, mostly what I found in a day on the island were many wind gusts.


Sunday 17 Dec
Vermilion Flycatcher -; I checked Stanwood STP at 11:00 - no luck. Came back just before 1:00, and the Vermilion Flycatcher was sitting where recently reported, along the fence line visible from the driveway into the Stanwood STP -; no need to drive further down 98th, and no bad interactions with the neighbors to report. The previously reported Black Phoebe was also preset near the same spot.

Swamp Sparrow -; in between tries for the VEFL, I went over to Iverson Spit on Camano Island -; hoping for a Swamp Sparrow [after being reminded of a sighting there thanks to Dalton Spencer's recent post] -; sure enough, on the main trail where it crosses the corner of the marsh, a Swamp Sparrow was calling away, and gave nice views.

A good weekend of birding - but I did manage to miss the Duvall Prairie Falcon once again to keep excitement in check!

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA