We went for a drive yesterday to Banks Lake (ten miles west of Grand
Coulee) and spotted 12 Trumpeter Swans, three of which were immature.

There was a Buffelhead that had some strange markings--The black on top
of it's head continued in a narrow strip down the back of it's head and
met the black on it's back. Also the upper half of the normally white
bonnet like patch, which in this case is now a round patch on each side
of it's face is light grey to medium grey. I saw this one, or one just
like it in the lake in front of our house a couple days earlier.

We also saw a Red-tailed Hawk take a mouse and dispose of it in three
gulps.

Jerry and Sandy Converse
Grand Coulee, WA