It was cold (18 F) as I passed Taylor Pond along Selah Creek in the early
dawn of 20 October. Enroute to upper Cold Creek where I spend the first two
hours after dawn along a walking route, I noted the usual abundance of
harriers plus Rough-legged Hawks which have appeared in good numbers over
the past two weeks.

Along the willow and hawthorn habitats of upper Cold Creek, migrants
continued their seasonal decline from the flood passing through this
corridor all through the early fall. Several species were new, though. The
earliest Bohemian Waxwing ever in Yakima County was a lone bird travelling
with a flock of robins westward up Cold Creek. At the Cold Creek Divide was
also the earliest in fall Yakima County Lapland Longspur. Noteworthy too,
were 2 Purple Finches moving with Cassin's Finches.

The warmth of the mid-day sun brought on another wonderful show of diurnal
raptors - about 100 individuals in all of eight species. Memorable were two
Prairie Falcons soaring for extended periods (10 minutes) against the
brilliant blue sky, in company with harriers, Rough-legged Hawks and Golden
Eagles. I continue to be excited by the size of this raptor migration and
look forward to each Sunday when I can immerse myself with these birds in
this wonderful landscape.

At dusk I made a dertermined effort to tally Short-eared Owls along the Cold
Creek Road from the Cold Creek Divide to Range Central. I counted 10 in all!
Thus, the same habitats crawling with harriers by day are attracting the
owls. This is as expected, but, the window for observing owls is short. No
sooner are they abroad and its pitch dark. It's tough to cover all the same
ground at dusk that is censused during daylight hours. The question is then
how many owls I'm missing. Heaps I'm sure. Soon it'll be cloudy all day, as
is usual in winter in the Columbia Basin and the owls will be hunting more
in the daylight.

The tally - a 12-hour effort along upper Cold and Selah Creeks, with 15
minutes time-out for a nap!

Mallard-1
Northern Harrier-39
Sharp-shinned Hawk-4
Cooper's Hawk-1
Red-tailed Hawk-16, continuing to decline.
Rough-legged Hawk-24, continuing to increase.
Golden Eagle-5, 4 ads. + 1 very "ring-tailed" imm.
American Kestrel-3
Prairie Falcon-2
Gray Partridge-25
Chukar-5
Sage Grouse-7
Common Snipe-1
Great Horned Owl-4
Short-eared Owl-11
Hairy Woodpecker-1, continuing to be attracted to mullein seed heads.
N. (Red-shafted) Flicker-1
Horned Lark-12, paltry numbers, really surprising - have they all gone to
the wheatfields?
Black-billed Magpie-4
Common Raven-24, including 8 "playing" with the imm. Golden Eagle - great
views!
Red-breasted Nuthatch-2
Golden-crowned Kinglet-67
Ruby-crowned Kinglet-20
Western Bluebird-10 moving east to west down Selah Creek, briefly landing in
a cottonwood.
Townsend's Solitaire-1
American Robin-173
Varied Thrush-17
Bohemian Waxwing-1
Northern Shrike-3
European Starling-70
Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler-13
Spotted Towhee-1
Song Sparrow-2
White-crowned Sparrow-6
Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco-51
Lapland Longspur-1
Purple Finch-2
Cassin's Finch-3
House Finch-25, noticeable increase in an area where they do not breed,
feeding on blue elderberries.
Pine Siskin-15
American Goldfinch-4

Also a Porcupine (live!) crossing the road, several mule deer, and coyotes
and several Least Chipmunks.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA