Chris Hill:

>So it seems, based on limited looking, like there are quite a few
>Saw-whets "out there" in winter in W. Washington. Is this the normal
>state of affairs, or might this be a "good year" for them, as is
>happening back east, where migration banding stations have caught
>record numbers?

This seems like an unusually good winter for them, at least here near
Olympia. We've heard several while scouting for the upcoming CBC, in
places where I expected Great-horned or W. Screech. And they were
calling unsolicited, for the most part, although one responded to a
screech owl tape. I don't usually hear them until February or so. On
Christmas day, we turned one up in the flesh, or rather the chickadees
and wrens pointed it out, in a small cedar two blocks from home. Of
course, they'll all clam up by count day on Saturday...

Eric Kraig
Olympia
kraig at wln.com