Sounds like a great day, Jon!

Instead of watching the temporary occupant of the WH this evening I went
owling. As usual, I didn't find any owls but, frankly, that was less
stressful than listening to that guy's nonsense.

Cheers,
Ann Marie

On Tue, Jan 30, 2018 at 7:55 PM Jon Houghton <jon.houghton at hartcrowser.com>
wrote:


> Hi Tweets -;After trying in vain with Blair to find a Violet-green Swallow

> in the rain in Kent yesterday, I decided to take advantage of the break in

> the weather today and head north for a recon of the route of an SAS trip

> Sarah Peden and I are leading in a couple of weeks. North of Sylvana, I

> was pretty excited to find a White-throated Sparrow among the many

> Golden-crowned, Song, and White-crowned Sparrows at feeders near the east

> end of Norman Rd. Nothing too exciting at the Nature Conservancy Port

> Susan site but the reliable Lincoln's Sparrows were present there in the

> blackberries. Thomlie Road also had no surprises but a juv. Cooper's Hawk

> was watching over a large flock of starlings and misc. blackbirds and here,

> as elsewhere, Bald Eagles were hanging around their nests and some were

> bringing in materials to finish the trim. On to Eide Road, if only to see

> the Snow Buntings that have been very visible near the main parking area.

> Quite frankly, this ain't the birding place it used to be before

> restoration, but worth the stop for the buntings and a gang of 9 Greater

> Yellowlegs along the approach road. From there, I went north from Stanwood

> to Conway, passing the Fisher Slough restoration site -; a reliable location

> for close views of Ring-necked Ducks in the slough/canal along the road.

> At Wylie Slough, the Black Phoebe is (remarkably) still fly-catching from

> the same logs in the slough between the Wylie Sl. approach road and the

> west parking lot, where it was last year! On Fir Island, Trumpeter Swans

> were everywhere, and with close looks there were a few Tundras mixed in. I

> took a quick look through Dodge Valley but didn't see any sign of the Great

> Egret that had been there a few weeks ago. On to the Samish Flats, there

> was nothing exceptional at the West 90: the usual Northern Harriers,

> Rough-legged Hawks, and a plethora of gulls. I stopped briefly at the East

> 90, where I found one of my real targets: a Short-eared Owl, hunting low

> over the fallow fields, but getting harassed briefly by a Harrier. Heading

> through Edison, I found my last target of the day -; the town Merlin,

> sitting atop one of the tall evergreens in the center of town. I did a

> quick drive down Sunset Road and stopped at the "Blue Jay" place but did

> not see either of those standbys from that last 2 months. All in all - a

> great day with minimal rain and moderate sun! Happy birding!! [I hope you

> can be reading this to calm your soul, instead of thinking about the SOU

> diatribe (and Prez Tweet clapping for himself).] -; Jon Houghton, Edmonds

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