Samish/Skagit Flats Field Trip (Jan. 16, 2010) Highlights

Our first birding stop was at the beginning of Chuckanut Drive where there was a field of about 300 swans. We scoped them all and found one Tundra among the many Trumpeter Swans. A number of large flocks, numbering thousands, of Snow Geese flew overhead. We saw many more flocks of Trumpeter Swans in fields throughout the trip. Nearby ponds had Northern Pintail, Mallards, American and Eurasian Wigeon. As we drove to the area of the community of Blanchard we saw many Bald Eagles and Red-tailed Hawks. At one field of corn stubble, a Western Meadowlark was seen hiding out. Some bushes by the road found a Golden-crowned Kinglet feeding. A nearby tree was being attacked by a Red-breasted Sapsucker.One house in Blanchard has a number of bird feeders and bushes that attract many small birds that included Song Sparrow, House Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch, Spotted Towhee, Steller's Jay and both Golden- and White-crowned Sparrows. A Cooper's Hawk was scouting the area, obviously aware of the numbers of birds in the area. We usually see a few Mourning Dove here, but they have been displaced by Eurasian Collered-Doves. there were six here. We later did see a Mourning Dove. 

We headed to Edison for a stop at a pastry place for some body fuel. Then onto the West 90. A Rough-legged Hawk was perched at its usual place on a tree just to the north. We didn't see any Short-eared Owls, but did see a number of Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawks. There were many hunters in the area, but we did see a number of ducks in the ponds to the west. A shorebird gave us some glimpses as it went in and out of the grass. It most resembled a Pectoral Sandpiper, but the bill seemed a little longer than normal. A study of Sibley's book showed that all the other possibilities had shorter bills than a Pectoral, so it won by default. A Virginia Rail was also heard calling. Next we went to the park at the end of Samish Island, only to be greeted by a sign that said "Due to the lack of funds, maintenance of this park can not be continued and all amenities have been removed". These amenities were the rest rooms, picnic tables and the stairway that let you get down to the beach. So our birding was limited to the nearby trees and what we could see from the parking lot. We did see some Brant, Red-breasted Mergnaser, Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Loon and Horned Grebe. We were going to have lunch there but decided to go to the Padilla Bay Interpretative Center. On the Bayview-Edison Road we saw about 30 Black-bellied Plovers feeding in some mud flats. One Dunlin was feeding in a separate mud flat. But, a little further along the road we saw an estimated 2000 Dunlin all huddled together like sardines. We arrived at the center just as Neil Zimmerman's group was about to leave. They had started from the south and were heading for where we had just come from. So we exchanged information on what had been seen and where.

We continued on south into the Skagit Flats area where we many more swans and a large flock of Snow Geese on the ground, but too far away even for scopes to give a quality view. We did see our only American Coot for the day in a side pond. A Ruby-crowned Kinglet was seen flitting about a small tree. As we continued south we stopped where we could get a view of the Stanwood Sewage Treatment Ponds. As expected, they had a few ducks we hadn't seen yet - Ring-necked Duck, Greater Scaup, Ruddy Duck and Northern Shoveler. We went on to Boe Road expecting the usual thousands of Snow Geese, but there was none there, not even any swans. So, we headed east on Norman Road. The big eagle nest was near the start of Norman Road and two Bald Eagles were nearby, apparently contemplating fixing it up to use again this year. The road follows the Stilliguamish River and we saw at least 50 Double-crested Cormorants perched in trees along the river. Since it was late in the afternoon, they probably were going to roost there for the night. After, a long and productive day of birding in unexpectedly good weather we got back to the P&R at 5:30 p.m., 10 hours after we started.