[Tweeters] Wednesday lessons on the Samish Flats

[Martin Muller]

Spent a nice day on the Samish Flats.
Mostly between Edison and down to Highway 20.

First: I dipped on the Gyr. Didn’t get to the Padilla Bay area until mid-afternoon.
I did have a Northern Shrike, early off Field Rd. A bit farther south than yesterday’s report by Rebecca Galloway.

As reported on tweeters, lots of Northern Harrier and Short-eared Owls at the “East 90” (90 degree angle in Bayview Edison Road, just SW of Edison). Eagles in every tall tree. A fly-by of an adult Cooper’s Hawk.

Found a few American Kestrels, but those were the only falcons I saw. Unusual not to find at least a Peregrine or two. I tried.

Around 9:30 along Sullivan Road (east off Bayview Edison Rd.) I noticed a juvenile Snow Goose and a Mallard hen, standing by themselves out in the middle of the open field. Not a healthy situation. Through my scope I could see the Snow Goose had some equilibrium problems. It would raise its head and then, as if it was dizzy, it would stagger backwards in a circle. The rest of the time it simply seemed unsteady (like somebody nodding off and jerking their head back up). Obviously an impaired bird. Within a few minutes a juvenile Northern Harrier got ambitious and struck the much larger goose. The goose flew up and the Harrier strafed it again and dislodged some feathers. The goose flew almost straight up but then appeared to run out of gas and tumbled down into the field. A “dead giveaway” of distress and sure enough an almost full adult Bald Eagle (few brown streaks on white head and tail) came to investigate. It dove on the goose but impending death gave the goose “wings.” The eagle landed The goose wisely sped away. A sub-adult Bald Eagle took up the chase. Four times the goose outmaneuvered aerial attacks by the eagle. The eagle made contact with the goose twice. A few feathers dislodged on the first hit but it actually grabbed hold of the goose in mid-flight on the second try and the goose violently jerked back as it lost forward momentum. This actually dislodged it from the eagle’s tenuous grasp (one talon on a leg). The goose righted itself and redoubled its efforts. The sub-adult eagle gave up but another adult eagle took over. I watched the whole thing through the scope/camera (got some really mediocre video footage of the goose’s ordeal). Eventually the goose, with the eagle hot on its heels, disappeared behind a building along the Samish Bay dike to the north. I suspect the eagle got the goose, because within a minute an swarm of eagles descended upon the area, with a lot of circling and diving going on. My hope is that the goose wasn’t infected with Avian Flu (HPAI).

A bit later I spent some time watching Rough-legged Hawks (2) hunting rodents in the fields farther south along Bayview Edison Rd. After a nice hover against the north wind one dropped down and appeared successful. It was footing (repeatedly pinching) something in the grass. When it took off it (inadvertently, I assume) brought a bunch of grass with into the air. This drew the unwanted attention from a sub-adult Bald Eagle that gave chase. After two missed strikes at the Rough-leg circling up, the Rough-leg used its shorter turning radius to maneuver into a position slightly behind the Bald Eagle, making it impossible for the eagle to steal the meal. They circled for well over eight minutes (!) before the eagle finally gave up. The Rough-leg did a slow shallow stoop and eventually disappeared behind a bunch of small bushes, presumably to devour it’s hard-earned meal.

After striking out on the Gyrfalcon I headed south past La Conner, taking Best Rd. After crossing the Skagit River I turned left and found the field to the north (up against the dike) hosting a bunch of Trumpeter Swans (30) and Snow Geese (20). Also found one Tundra Swan with a lot of Yellow on its bill.

Final stop was at the Fir Island Farm Reserve (Talking Field No. 3) where there were lots of ducks, some eagles, a few Dunlin, and one photogenic Greater Yellowlegs.

Cheers,
Martin Muller, Seattle
martinmuller at msn.com