Subject: Lower Columbia Basin RBA 2/8/96
Date: Feb 8 21:09:50 1996
From: Bill and Nancy LaFramboise - wlafra at oneworld.owt.com


Hotline: Lower Columbia Basin
Date: February 8, 1996
Phone: 509-943-OWLS
Compiler: Bob Woodley
Transcribers: Bill and Nancy LaFramboise, wlafra at oneworld.owt.com

Birds reported:

Rusty Blackbird
Snow Bunting
Lapland Longspur
possible McCown's Longspur
American Tree Sparrow
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Long-eared Owl
Eurasian Wigeon
Bohemian Waxwing

-transcript

This is the Lower Columbia Basin Audubon Society Rare Bird Alert for
February 8, 1996. For questions regarding LCBAS call Mike Lilga at 946-8966.

On February 3, it was determined by Dennis and Glenda Rockwell that the
female Rusty Blackbird remained at the Walla Walla College Dairy farm among
hundreds of Red-winged and Brewer's Blackbirds and Starlings.

On February 5, Mike and MerryLynn Denny found 4500 Horned Lark, numerous
Snow Buntings, several Lapland Longspurs and a possible McCown's Longspur
along Donovan Road, about 1/2 mile east of Highway 125. Donovan Road enters
the Highway a short distance north of the Tomco Seed Company which is about
14 miles north of Walla Walla.

The following day, Nancy LaFramboise, Ruth Fischer and I (Bob Woodley) found
numerous Snow Buntings, 3 Lapland Longspurs, and many Horned Lark at this
location but no odd longspur. (The weather warmed up 40 degrees, some of the
snow had melted, and the large flock dispersed.) We did however see one
American Tree Sparrow.

Along Smith Springs Road a few miles northeast of Prescott, we found 2
Northern Saw-whet Owls and 1 Long-eared Owl.

Also on February 6, Warren Hall and Jim Acton of Spokane found a Eurasian
Wigeon at the offal piles near the Wallula pulp mill. This is the only
local sighting of this species so far this year.

Finally, this afternoon, a flock of about 20 each of Bohemian and Cedar
Waxwings were feeding on my (Woodley's) Mountain Ash tree. Phil Bartley had
found a very large mixed flock of these birds on February 2 along Enterprise
Street in Richland. They will probably remain for awhile locally so look
for them in Mountain Ash, Hawthorn, or Russian Olive.

To report your own sightings, please give your name, phone number and
sightings after the tone. Thank you.



Bill and Nancy LaFramboise
Richland, WA
wlafra at oneworld.owt.com