Washinton BirdBox RBA
November 6, 1999
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1999 16:39:24 -0800
Reply-To: Hal Opperman <halop@ACCESSONE.COM>
Sender: "National Birding Hotline Cooperative (West)"
<BIRDWEST@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>
From: Hal Opperman <halop@ACCESSONE.COM>
Subject: [BIRDWEST] RBA: Kestrel and Dotterel continue in Washington
To: BIRDWEST@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
* Washington
* Statewide BirdBox
* November 6, 1999
* WABB9911.06
A crowd of birders observed the EURASIAN KESTREL today along Chuckanut
Drive west of the intersection with Colony Road, a bit more than a mile
north of the Bow post office in Skagit County, Washington. It was sitting
on a dirt pile beside the drainage ditch that runs west across the field
from the intersection, perhaps 150 feet short of the dike. Afterwards it
hunted over the fields north and south of there, a hundred yards or so
either way, occasionally perching on the ground or low banks of earth.
Earlier it had been seen briefly in the fields southeast of there, close to
the road paralleling Chuckanut Drive to the east. The bird was discovered
nearby on October 31st, and has been seen every day since then on both
sides of Chuckanut Drive within a mile either way from the spot where it
was found today, ranging east to the next road and west to the dike. It
often sits on the ground or on dirt piles, but also on bushes, wires, and
man-made structures. Captured, examined, banded, and released earlier in
the week, the bird was determined to be a juvenile and showed no signs of
captivity.
The EURASIAN DOTTEREL, first reported on October 20, continues at Ocean
Shores, where it was seen as recently as yesterday afternoon. Prime
locations, as before, are on the Game Range near the base of Damon Point
and along the bay shoreline of Damon Point, as well as at various public
access points along the bay shoreline between the marina and the airport.
The bird often associates with other plovers, mostly Black-bellied and
Killdeer. It moves around over a large area and is not always easy to
find, especially when the tide is out.
Hal Opperman
Medina, Washington
mailto:halop@accessone.com