Transcribed by Hal Opperman
halop at u.washington.edu
phone 206-635-0503


The Washington BirdBox is a voice mailbox sponsored by the Washington
Ornithological Society. To leave a message about a notable sighting, or
to listen to the 12 most recent messages, call (206) 454-2662 and follow
the prompts. First-time BirdBox users may find it convenient to review
the status of Washingtons chickadee species before calling.

[Mailbox previously checked by Bob Norton at 9 p.m. November 24, 1996.]

11:11 p.m. November 24th - This is Ken Knittle. Today east of Bingen with
Scott [or scaup? - transcriber] there was a TUFTED DUCK which was seen a
couple weeks ago. That's down in Klickitat County. And also north of the
mouth of the Lewis River west of Woodland on Dike Road we had one CATTLE
EGRET, one GREAT EGRET, one ROSS' GOOSE, and two SHORT-EARED OWLS.

1:43 p.m. November 25th - This is Hugh Jennings from Bellevue, Washington,
at 206-746-6351, and this morning from 9:30 to 11:30 five of us from the
East Lake Washington Audubon went on a field trip to the Arboretum and
Foster Island and right away we found the BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER. It was
approximately 40 to 50 yards north of the footbridge and it was in amongst
of a bunch of BUSHTITS and BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES and RUBY-CROWNED
KINGLETS and some TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS. And since this is the WOS hotline
I should mention that while viewing the BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER Marcus
Roening showed up and joined our walk. We also saw three BROWN CREEPERS
with one at eye level at approximately 15 feet away giving excellent
viewing. Also saw some TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS I mentioned before and an
ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD. We had a total of 34 species in two hours. Thank
you.

5:02 p.m. November 25th - Hello, this is Patrick Sullivan. The NORTHERN
WATERTHRUSH was again observed today behind the main parking lot restrooms
at the Skagit Wildlife Management Area between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m., where
observations were also included by Ian Macgregor. Other noted species
included four BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS, two AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, and two
WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS. A RUSTY BLACKBIRD was noted along Fir Island
Road across from the BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON roost which contained up to
12 birds. The [WESTERN] SCRUB-JAY was also noted today at its first
previous location in Mount Vernon. One PRAIRIE FALCON was observed a half
mile south of McLean Road on Bradshaw Road. Up to five SNOWY OWLS were
observed north and west of the Bayview-Edison and Samish Island Road, and
one SNOWY OWL was observed at the Jensen access. One NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL
was heard and seen at Bayview State Park, and 14 SNOW BUNTINGS were
observed at March Point and good numbers of OLDSQUAW were also noted.
Thank you. Good luck and good birding!

3:15 p.m. November 26th - This is Hal Opperman at 206-635-0503. Today
Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. the BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER was found foraging in
birch trees on Foster Island about 70 yards northeast of the Broadmoor
footbridge, loosely associated with a small group of chickadees, kinglets,
and creepers. Thanks Kevin!

7:00 p.m. November 26th - Hi. This is Bill Rathman (?), phone number is
206-454-1707. My wife and I were up at Big Ditch today and wanted to
report that there's still two SNOWY OWLS present.

7:24 p.m. November 26th - Hi. This is Steve Mlodinow. I went out for a
couple hours to Spencer Island today and on the way to Spencer Island I
saw a SWAMP SPARROW at long last. The bird was just before you cross the
bridge onto Spencer when it's still on sewage plant property and this is a
marsh to the right as you're facing the bridge. And that's about it.
Good luck and good birding!

[Mailbox last checked by Hal Opperman at 7:45 p.m. November 26th, 1996.]