At 01:31 AM 8/12/97 PST, you wrote:

>As much as it may pain us to admit it, the "fall" southbound migration is
already
>underway.

In the Goshutes mountains, a crew has already set up our main tent in
preparation for the fall raptor count/banding season. We'll be
starting the count Friday, with typically a half-dozen or so kestrels
and a couple of sharpies being seen the first day. After a week or
so, the count will rise to 50 or so, with the first 100 bird day
usually coming the last week in August. We've had our immie sharpie
"peak" as early as September 3rd.

And I spent a very pleasant late afternoon saturday photographing
western and least sandpipers, a couple of hundred hanging out at
my favorite little spot for them on Yaquina Bay (Newport, OR).


- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net