Dear Tweeters,
Shorebird season is here. Hayton Reserve on Fir Island continues as one of the two best shorebird spots in Skagit County, along with the Game Range. Many birders are enjoying this wonderful place, especially on incoming tides. There were three or four AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS there yesterday.
Recently I had the pleasure of conversing with a retired WDFW official, and learned a few things about the Skagit Wildlife Management Area, and Hayton Reserve in particular. It was repeatedly suggested to me that the site should really not be called "Hayton Reserve." The land was neither donated by nor purchased from the Hayton family. I was told that the Hayton family had leased that land for a few years, after it had been purchased by the state, and that that was the extent of the family's involvement with the creation of the wildlife unit there.
In checking the county assessor's website, I see that the state purchased the land in 1995 from an entity known as Fir Island Farms. The WDFW website refers to the site as Fir Island Farm Reserve Wildlife Area Unit, or Fir Island Farm Reserve for short. I see no mention of the Hayton surname anywhere on the web page for Fir Island Farm Reserve. A 2013 article in Bird Watcher's Digest called the site "Fir Island Farms Reserve," adding an S. 
Of course, it must be a lovely thing to have one's surname officially commemorated in a toponym. I myself would be flattered if some speck of earth were dubbed the "Bletsch This" or the "Bletsch That." Chubby chance of that ever happening, but there it is.
As best I can remember, I have never met the Haytons, and don't even know if they are aware that birders call the site neighboring their farmland "Hayton Reserve." Nor have I taken the time to stop and buy any produce from their roadside stand. 

When I moved back to Skagit in 2002, after a four-year absence, this birding site had begun to attract attention as a shorebirding spot; it slowly eclipsed the nearby Jensen Access, which is much smaller, includes less variety of habitat, and allows hunting. I followed the example of other birders who were calling the Fir Island Farm Reserve "Hayton Reserve."
I have nothing against the folks personally, but I like to call things by their correct names. Barring receipt of any new information to contravene the above, I reckon I will start calling it "Fir Island Farm Reserve." That, I believe, is what the sign says at the entrance. It might even be fun to shorten it to "FIFR," which rhymes with "differ" and "Claudia Schiffer."
I would suggest a name change for this hotspot to eBird, but imagine that it would fall on deaf ears.
Yours truly,
Gary  Bletsch



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