Ken and I led a field trip today to the Skagit Flats, primarily on Fir Island as that’s where we saw most birds on Thursday. There were 8 of us in 3 cars as I needed to head home after we end the trip at 4 PM. We were fortunate to have Kim Thornburn from Spokane with us, an excellent birder who was as good or better than a third leader.
We had hoped for a great start at Wylie Slough and it was even better than hoped for. We left there with 71 species seen or heard, and everyone had fun. Highlight was a Pileated woodpecker being harassed first by a Peregrine falcon, then a Cooper’s hawk, and finally a Merlin joined the fray over some snags near the tide line. Passerines were everywhere, Cinnamon teal and Wood Ducks were found, a Brown creeper called and was seen, and we had both yellowlegs and a LBDO on the logs.
From there we scrapped for birds, finding very little at Hayton Preserve, or the Jensen Access, until we got to the Marsh Point Road bay viewing place. There the American white pelicans were found again, along with WESA, BUFF, SUSC, COLO, and near the end of the stop several SEPL who walked right in close for great views.
On the way back to Hayton we stopped at Channel Drive and again no shorebirds were noted. A last stop back at Hayton gave us the Yellow-headed blackbird spotted by Ken high in a maple tree, and a few very distant dowichers, but not much really. We ended with 93 species on a beautiful sunny day.
Here is an eBird Trip Summary:
Number of Species 93 — — — — — —
Number of Individuals 3,827 — — — — — —
Number of Checklists 6 — — — — — —
Highest Count for a Species (sample size)
Species Name Sep 23 Sep 24 Sep 25 Sep 26 Sep 27 Sep 28 Sep 29
Snow Goose 30
(2) — — — — — —
Brant 8
(1) — — — — — —
Cackling Goose 200
(2) — — — — — —
Wood Duck 4
(1) — — — — — —
Cinnamon Teal 4
(2) — — — — — —
Northern Shoveler 4
(2) — — — — — —
Gadwall 150
(2) — — — — — —
American Wigeon 4
(1) — — — — — —
Mallard 20
(4) — — — — — —
Northern Pintail 20
(4) — — — — — —
Green-winged Teal 50
(4) — — — — — —
Surf Scoter 8
(1) — — — — — —
Bufflehead 1
(1) — — — — — —
Common Merganser 13
(1) — — — — — —
duck sp. 1,000
(1) — — — — — —
Ring-necked Pheasant 2
(1) — — — — — —
Common Loon 6
(1) — — — — — —
Pied-billed Grebe 30
(2) — — — — — —
Double-crested Cormorant 200
(1) — — — — — —
American White Pelican 17
(1) — — — — — —
Great Blue Heron 15
(6) — — — — — —
Turkey Vulture 1
(5) — — — — — —
Osprey 1
(1) — — — — — —
Northern Harrier 1
(4) — — — — — —
Cooper’s Hawk 1
(1) — — — — — —
Bald Eagle 1
(2) — — — — — —
Red-tailed Hawk 1
(1) — — — — — —
Virginia Rail 2
(1) — — — — — —
Semipalmated Plover 8
(1) — — — — — —
Killdeer 10
(3) — — — — — —
Western Sandpiper 100
(3) — — — — — —
Long-billed Dowitcher 6
(2) — — — — — —
Short-billed/Long-billed Dowitcher 8
(1) — — — — — —
Wilson’s Snipe 4
(2) — — — — — —
Greater Yellowlegs 13
(3) — — — — — —
Lesser Yellowlegs 2
(1) — — — — — —
Mew Gull 15
(1) — — — — — —
Ring-billed Gull 50
(5) — — — — — —
California Gull 2
(2) — — — — — —
Glaucous-winged Gull 150
(5) — — — — — —
Larus sp. 200
(1) — — — — — —
gull sp. 150
(1) — — — — — —
Caspian Tern 6
(3) — — — — — —
Rock Pigeon 1
(1) — — — — — —
Eurasian Collared-Dove 15
(2) — — — — — —
Mourning Dove 2
(1) — — — — — —
Vaux’s Swift 30
(3) — — — — — —
Anna’s Hummingbird 2
(1) — — — — — —
Belted Kingfisher 2
(1) — — — — — —
Downy Woodpecker 2
(1) — — — — — —
Northern Flicker 4
(3) — — — — — —
Pileated Woodpecker 1
(1) — — — — — —
American Kestrel 1
(1) — — — — — —
Merlin 1
(2) — — — — — —
Peregrine Falcon 1
(1) — — — — — —
Steller’s Jay 1
(1) — — — — — —
American Crow 6
(4) — — — — — —
Common Raven 2
(1) — — — — — —
Violet-green Swallow 8
(1) — — — — — —
Barn Swallow 15
(3) — — — — — —
Black-capped Chickadee 15
(2) — — — — — —
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 2
(1) — — — — — —
Bushtit 1
(1) — — — — — —
Brown Creeper 2
(1) — — — — — —
Marsh Wren 4
(1) — — — — — —
Bewick’s Wren 6
(2) — — — — — —
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
(1) — — — — — —
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
(1) — — — — — —
American Robin 20
(3) — — — — — —
European Starling 40
(4) — — — — — —
American Pipit 40
(4) — — — — — —
Cedar Waxwing 54
(1) — — — — — —
Orange-crowned Warbler 3
(2) — — — — — —
Common Yellowthroat 2
(2) — — — — — —
Yellow Warbler 3
(1) — — — — — —
Yellow-rumped Warbler 70
(5) — — — — — —
Fox Sparrow 20
(1) — — — — — —
Dark-eyed Junco 6
(2) — — — — — —
White-crowned Sparrow 10
(4) — — — — — —
Golden-crowned Sparrow 6
(4) — — — — — —
Savannah Sparrow 10
(2) — — — — — —
Song Sparrow 14
(4) — — — — — —
Lincoln’s Sparrow 1
(1) — — — — — —
Spotted Towhee 10
(2) — — — — — —
Western Tanager 1
(1) — — — — — —
Yellow-headed Blackbird 1
(1) — — — — — —
Red-winged Blackbird 20
(4) — — — — — —
Brewer’s Blackbird 60
(3) — — — — — —
House Finch 15
(3) — — — — — —
Purple Finch 6
(1) — — — — — —
Pine Siskin 40
(1) — — — — — —
American Goldfinch 10
(4) — — — — — —
House Sparrow 1
(1) — — — — — —