WASHINGTON ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY BIRDBOX
22-28 February 1996

Prepared by Lisa Smith and Russell Rogers.
Minor editorial changes have been made to some messages to enhance
readability.

The BirdBox is a service of the Washington Ornithological Society (WOS).
To access the BirdBox call (206) 454-2662 and follow the directions.
Black-capped, Chestnut-Backed, Mountain and Boreal Chickadees are
resident in Washington State.

To Join WOS send check for $20.00 for single membership or $25.00 for
family membership to: WOS, Post Office Box 31783, Seattle, Washington
98103-1783.

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8:08 p.m. 02/19/96: Bill Shelmerdine in Olympia. Today the KING EIDER was
again seen at the Hastie Lake boat launch. That was about 11:30. [NOTE:
This messages was accidently omitted from last weeks transcript]

3:41 p.m. 02/22/96: Patrick Sullivan reporting from Tacoma, Washington,
206/564-7419. The winter-plumaged DICKCISSEL was again observed today at
Ocean Shores in Grays Harbor County between 10:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m.
Also present [was] 1 WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE on the Ocean Shores golf course.

[NOTE: Schut is not pronounced "shoot" as earlier reported, but "skut",
like the first syllable of "scuttle". See Jim Flynn's message of 02/25
below.]

7:10 p.m. 02/22/96: Vic Nelson, 360/638-2233. Today, Thursday, there were
2 adult LITTLE GULLS at Point No Point. There'd been one here all week,
and now there are two. Also, about 3,000 BONAPARTE'S and MEW GULLS to
poke through. The best time to look this weekend would be between ten
o'clock and two o'clock.

8:10 p.m. 02/22/96: Dan McDougal-Tracy in Seattle, 525-5072. This is a
little late, but of interest. February 18th at the Montlake Fill at Union
Bay [there] was a River Otter dining on what I think was a female
GADWALL.

12:06 p.m. 02/23/96: Russell Rogers. Yesterday, February 22nd, the
SLATY-BACKED GULL was seen at the flooded field on the west side of
Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. The bird was visible with a large
congregation of gulls from Interstate 5. Also yesterday, the DICKCISSEL
was present at Norm Schut's feeder in Ocean Shores, seen for about ten
minutes right around 3 p.m. in the afternoon.

12:34 p.m. 02/23/96: David Buckley in West Seattle, 937-2541. I wanted to
report that the GREAT GRAY OWL was on Ovenell Road in Skagit County this
morning between 7 and 7:45. It then flew off into the woods, and we
couldn't find it again. Other birds of note were 3 male and 1 female
REDHEAD on Beaver Lake east of Mt. Vernon and about 200 VIOLET-GREEN
SWALLOWS on McMurray Lake east of Conway.

4:34 p.m. 02/23/96: Tracee Geernaert at 938-6301. Ian McGregor and I saw
the DICKCISSEL in Ocean Shores this morning. It was there between 9:30
and 9:45 and was in a flock of HOUSE FINCH and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS.
It's at Norm Schut's place in Ocean Shores.

7:03 p.m. 02/24/96: Patrick Sullivan reporting from Tacoma, Washington,
along with Ruth Sullivan and other observers. The winter male DICKCISSEL
was again observed today at Ocean Shores at the residence of Norm Schut
at 568 Ensign Avenue and was sporadically observed between 10:45 [a.m.]
and 3 p.m.

9:38 p.m. 02/24/96: Julia Bent, 206/783-0669. On Saturday the 24th there
was an immature GYRFALCON about 4.5 miles north of Northhead on Long
Beach. There was also a first-year GLAUCOUS GULL about two or three miles
south of Ledbetter Point on the beach at Long Beach.

9:52 p.m. 02/25/96: Yvonne Bombardier, 348-8845. Today at the Padilla Bay
Interpretive Center we located 1 TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE. It was in the
fruit trees below the Interpretive Building at around 12:30.

10:16 p.m. 02/25/96: Jim Flynn in Renton, (206) 772-5568. Today in Ocean
Shores there were 2 PALM WARBLERS in the Scotch broom just east of the
Interpretive Center and just north of the marina. The birds were seen at
about 2:30 p.m. Unfortunately, the DICKCISSEL has not been seen but
briefly today at 8:45 a.m. and 1:40 p.m., not regularly as through the
week before. The fellow who is hosting all the birders has asked me to
let people know his name is pronounced "Norm Skut". He is still welcoming
visitors at 568 Ensign Road in Ocean Shores.

2:36 p.m. 02/26/96: Anne Winski in Edmonds, 206/775-0829. I would like to
report for February 25th 2 SHORT-EARED OWLS at the north-fork access of
Skagit Flats. Also, the group of about 10 BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS in a
tree on the south side of the road two miles west of the bridge in
Conway. Also, several times over the past week we have seen in our yard
what seems to be a partially albino BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE. It has a
white cape-like effect over its shoulders and white extending up into the
back of a black cap.

8:35 p.m. 02/26/96: Kevin Aenerud, 523-6195. I spent the day today, the
26th of February, out at Ocean Shores at the house of Norm Schut looking
for the DICKCISSEL. It didn't show up at all the whole day. I believe the
bird is no longer present.

10:08 p.m. 02/26/96: Annette Columbini, 206/347-8929. The GREAT GRAY OWL
was visible on Ovenell Road yesterday, Sunday, February 25th. He wasn't
in the field at the end of the road; he was farther up the road in a
tree, hunting, and was there from about 7:30 to 9:30 or 10. We also saw
15 BALD EAGLES in that area, Padilla Bay, and Fir Island.

7:10 a.m. 02/27/96: Andy Stepniewski reporting from Wapato Tuesday
morning, February 27th at 7:15 a.m. I went out to get the morning paper,
and a SAW-WHET OWL looks as though it's been perched in some Douglas firs
for some time. There's a lot of...poop below it. To reach this spot from
Yakima, continue east on I-82 to exit 40. Turn right, go two miles to
West Parker Heights. Left there, one-half mile to Windy Point Drive, up
Windy Point Drive, straight up to a yellow gate. If it's closed, walk up
about a hundred feet to an Italian stone pine. Turn right, there on the
little lane against the terrace, and [at] the first Douglas fir you'll
see a lot of excrement right against the road. Just look straight up from
the poop pile and you should see the SAW-WHET. Experience tells me that
by the end of February they don't stay long, so if you gotta get one,
better hurry!

9:49 a.m. 02/28/96: Gene Revelas in Tacoma, 756-7834, with a slightly
late report. On Sunday there was a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE on the north end
of Tacoma near the corner of Junette [sp?] and 27th Street. Also, that
day down in the fields at the north end of the Nisqually Refuge, viewed
from ??? [sounds like Mount's] Road, there were a lot of gulls. No
evidence of a SLATY-BACKED GULL. There was a second-winter GLAUCOUS GULL
and also the albino MEW GULL, [a] very pure white bird that I think
Dennis Paulson reported some months ago in the Nisqually area.

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