[Tweeters] Raptor Uptick?

[jimbetz at jimbetz.com]

Hi all,

   Yesterday I drove around some of my favorite birding routes on
Fir Island, the Skagit Flats, and the Samish Flats.

   It seemed - to me - that I was seeing a slight uptick in the
numbers and even variety of raptors.  I saw:

   4 Red-tailed Hawks, all perched on poles or wires.
   2 Northern Harriers, one with prey perched on one of the old pilings
     in the fields/wetlands at the East 90.
   2 Turkey Vultures, flying high over the Northern part of Fir Island.
   1 Bald Eagle, flying in the vicinity of Hayton.
   1 maybe SEOW out near the West 90 (RTH?, Harrier?).

   1 Eagle/RTH, heard only but definite (several calls), near our  
house in Burlington.

   So perhaps "they're starting to come back" ... ???

                        - Or is it just my wishful thinking ... Jim