A male COMMON GRACKLE was still present at the Walla Walla College Dairy in
College Place, WA as of 11 am today, Friday, Jan. 6. It is quite difficult to
spot it amongst the 1000's of Redwing and Brewer's Blackbirds and Starlings
with which it associates while feeding on spilled cow feed.

A Merlin has been keeping the flock moving and the birds are quite skittish. A
scope is usefull here. It has taken some observers up to 3 hours to locate.

Having seen the grackle on two occasions, I've noticed that after the blackbird
flock is flushed into a tree or onto power lines, the grackle seems to prefer
to perch above all or most of the blackbirds. Today the bird perched for 10-15
minutes atop a large tree near a house at the north edge of the dairy new
Whitman Ave. On Wednesday, the bird was found feeding in corn stubble on the
north side of Whitman Ave 1/4 mile west of the dairy. When the flock flew up
to power lines, the grackle bullied his way to the top of a power pole.

By the way, despite its larger size, the grackle is extremely difficlt to pick
out of a flying flock of blackbirds.

Directions: Six miles east of Lowden take Last Chance Road south off Hwy 12.
Turn east after railroad tracks onto Whitman Ave (1st left after tracks). The
diary is the first driveway on the south side of Whitman Ave.
Or see *Washington Birder* Vol. 1, No. 4, page 4 for directions to the dairy.

The bird was photgraphed today by two observers.

Scott Ray
209 So. 40th Ave
Yakima, WA 98908
509 965-5456