[Tweeters] 4 zono day & eagle/goose chase

[Marv Breece]

Yesterday the Thomle Road (Snohomish County) HARRIS'S & WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS continued. Both looked rather unkempt compared to the spiffy GOLDEN & WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS. Also along Thomle Rd was a late light morph ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. 

A flock of hundreds of SNOW GEESE along Boe Rd included 2 or more minima CACKLING GEESE. 

There were also hundreds of SNOW GEESE at the West 90 on the Samish Flats. Included were a few minima and an adult GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. At the Field Road 90 were 4 WILSON'S SNIPES. 

At Hayton Reserve on Fir Island were 79 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, mostly in alternate plumage. Other shorebirds at Hayton: DUNLIN in numbers, WESTERN SANDPIPERS 4, LEAST SANDPIPERS 6, and GREATER YELLOWLEGS 9. There were 3 perched PEREGRINE FALCONS. 

The cake taker for the day was an interaction between an adult Bald Eagle and a juv Snow Goose at Hayton. Neil O'Hara and I were birding from the dike when a juv Snow Goose came from behind and carried the mail low over our heads. We looked at each other in surprise. In an instant we knew why. The next second, an adult Bald Eagle flew very low over our heads in hot pursuit. The goose was laboring and the eagle wing beats looked slow in comparison, but it appeared to be gaining on the goose as they flew to the east, over the lagoon. I thought the goose was toast. When the 2 birds reached the bushes near the far end, the goose dove for cover, and the eagle flew on a short distance and perched. The Snow Goose was difficult to locate under the bushes. When we finally did, we could see that it remained rather motionless for minutes. T he chase was over. These words do not capture the drama of the event. 

Some videos of the day: https://flic.kr/ps/376fhN 

Marv Breece 
Tukwila, WA 
marvbreece at q.com 
Pbase Images : https://www.pbase.com/marvbreece 
Flickr Videos : https://www.flickr.com/photos/138163614@N02/ 
Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHbkNzr4TaZ6ZBWfoJNvavw/featured 

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