Hi folks,

Yesterday, 18 Dec 96, I did a turn down Vance Creek which parallels the =
Wenzel Slough Road, just south of Hwy 8 at Elma. Wenzel Slough Rd goes =
past the Elma airport and connects back into Keys Road west of Elma. =
There are a number of wetland areas, where waterfowl and shorebirds can =
be seen. Also, the ponds at Vance Creek County Park held a number of =
waterfowl that I didn't scope - often there are a number of diving ducks =
in these ponds, as well as loons, etc.

I canoed down the slough, and walked about on the Ducks Unlimited area =
off Schoulweiler Road. There had been one duck hunter in there, but he =
left as I arrived. I didn't see anything terribly unusual, but did see =
a Peregrine buzz a flock of wigeon/teal just north of Wenzel Sl. Rd.

The few birds I saw:

Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Mallard
Pintail
Am Wigeon
GW Teal
Lesser Scaup
Common Goldeneye
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Dunlin
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Virginia Rail
Peregrine
Am Kestrel
Red-tailed Hawk
N Harrier
Cooper's Hawk - immy female
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1 male
Downy Woodpecker
Red-shafted Flicker
Belted Kingfisher
Crow
Steller's Jay
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
Marsh Wren
Bewick's Wren
Song Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Spotted Towhee
Golden-crowned Sparrow
House Finch
Purple Finch
Starling
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird

Also, I saw a pair of Ravens flying over Hwy 8 at the RV Park along the =
Thurston/Grays Harbor County line.

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net