Hi. I'll be going to Seattle and then Pt. Townsend for a conference/
vacation June 13-27. Anyone birders want somebody to tag along some
morning or afternoon?

By the way, I was helping to band baby boreal owls Saturday. They
have mustard-colored eyes and bat their eyelashes at you
with a juvenile predatory and yet innocent expression. They
were nesting in goldeneye boxes which there are about 100
of along Chena Hot Springs Road. Many have been occupied by
goldeneyes but others by owls or kestrels. Before we
went owl banding, we checked out a marshy spot from which
we could hear three kinds of flycatchers: alder, olive-sided,
and western wood peewee. There were bohemian waxwings all
over the place, and a snipe right over our heads. The major
migration is over now and the mosquitoes have become
truly obnoxious. The weather has been perfect for months, and
it doesn't get dark at night. There's nothing better than a
Fairbanks summer (we won't discuss the winter; the migratory
birds have the right idea).


Nina Mollett
ftndm at aurora.alaska.edu