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January 10, 2004

Eleven people went on the January 10 WOS field trip to the Skagit and Samish areas. We started out along the back road into the Skagit Game Range, and had several Red-tailed Hawks, a couple of Bald Eagles, a field full of Trumpeter Swans (some calling), and a number of Western Meadowlarks. At the main parking lot at the Skagit Game Range we ran into Marv Breece and we all walked down the west dike trail (listening to all the "mallards" giving interesting calls from the edges of the field - most of these "birds" had on hunter camo). We had Northern Harriers (male and female), absolutely wonderful looks at an immature Northern Shrike (at a distance of about 25 feet) - this after more distant looks at an earlier one. Through the spotting scopes the fine details of the shrike were truly beautiful. There were two Greater Yellowlegs in the same field as the "mallards", but they didn't seem to be bothered by these "ducks".

We left the game range and went to the north side of Fir Island where we had a field of about 7000 Snow Geese, and a number of Trumpeter Swans. In with the swans was at least one Tundra Swan. A number of Bald Eagles were in the trees along the dike, and a probable Cooper's Hawk came zipping by.  On the way up to the Samish we took a brief detour along Farm-to-Market Rd (because of a train with no engines across the tracks at Bayview-Edison Rd). As we made our way back west along Josh Wilson Rd toward Bayview, we got views of a female American Kestrel. Down along Padilla Bay we had views of Common Loon, Pacific Loon, scoters, and a rather unusual Long-tailed Duck that kept its head pulled down against its body and with short, vertically erected tail feathers (at a distance when first seen it appeared remarkably like a Ruddy Duck).

After lunch at the Brazeale Interpretive Center, we found both Downy & Hairy Woodpeckers in a tree out by the highway. Our next stop was the West 90, with several Red-tailed Hawks along the way, and a Rough-legged Hawk. We had just gotten out of our cars at the 90 when the immature Gyrfalcon flew by very closely, allowing great views, and proceeded to perch on an insulator on top of a power pole along Samish Island Rd. Great looks under very acceptable light. Everyone was able to study the head pattern, the coarse streaking along the breast and belly, and the primaries much shorter than the tail. Many Northern Harriers over the fields, several Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawks (including an almost black dark morph), and a couple of Short-eared Owls. The gulls flock in the puddle contained a Western Gull.

We continued to the WDFW site at the end of Wharf Rd and had Common & Pacific Loons, Surf & White-winged Scoters, Bufflehead, both goldeneyes, Long-tailed Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Horned & Red-necked Grebes, Brant, and Pelagic and Double-crested Cormorants on Samish Bay. On the way back off the island we had large flocks of American Wigeon with several Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, and Green-winged Teal. At the sparrow spot near the T-Loop Tavern, we had Song and Fox Sparrows, Brown Creeper, and Red-breasted Sapsucker. It was a most enjoyable and rewarding day with many excellent views of nice birds.

76 species – Snow Goose, Brant, Trumpeter Swan, Tundra Swan, Eurasian Wigeon, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, American Kestrel, Gyrfalcon, American Coot, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Dunlin, Wilson's Snipe, Mew Gull, Ring-billed Gull, California Gull, Western Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Pigeon Guillemot, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Northern Shrike, Steller's Jay, American Crow, Common Raven, Black-capped Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Bewick's Wren, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, Western, Meadowlark, Brewer's Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Purple Finch, House Finch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow.