Today we went to Skagit,Washington to bird.We saw two very rare birds, a Gyrfalcon and a Black-headed Gull. These were the highlights of the day: Tundra swans, Trumpeter swans, Snow geese, Northern pintails, American kestrel, Western Meadowlark, Marsh wren, Gyrfalcon, Black-headed Gull and a Rough legged hawk. We looked for Short-eared Owls but could not find them.We have looked so many times to find a Gyrfalcon! And we finally got to see one! I was super exited! A Gyrfalcon is the biggest falcon in the world! A Gyrfalcon is an arctic falcon. We saw the juvenile.
The Black-headed Gull is a Eurasian gull and is a really rare bird in North America. It was white with a black spot on it's cheek. It was smaller than the other gulls ( Glaucous-winged gull, Mew gull and ring-billed gull). The bill is dark red and the legs were also dark red. It had a light grey back and a white stomach. It was on some farm land with lots and lots of other gulls.
The car ride up was so, so, so long! We listened to "The lord of the rings" on tape and almost finished it! We also bumped into Bud Anderson when we where looking at the Gyrfalcon he is a raptor expert who has been studying them for 30 years! He wanted me to come to his class for free! It usually costs $170. I was really exited! He was super nice! We went to eat at this place called "Calico Cupboard" it was a bakery. The food was really good! We got a Apple cinnamon roll to go to share with my mom who was stuck at home with my 6 month old baby sister. By the way these pictures were taken with an iphone held to a spotting scope instead of our camera which inconveniently had a low battery.
 |
| Rough-legged Hawk |
 |
| Gyrfalcon |
 |
| Gyrfalcon |
 |
| Me avoiding the mud |
 |
| Me making a weird face at "Calico cupboard" |
 |
| Me and this awesome bridge |
 |
| Black-headed Gull |
