97-12-18, I wrote:

<< Hey! East Lake Washington CBC, Saturday, Dec. 20.
Anybody out there want to join me for the Lake Sammamish State Park sector
Killer Death March? I could use one other person to carry me over the mud
holes and slog the deep grassy marshes to snif and point out the Yellow Rail.
If interested in a full bore balls to the wall death stomp and would like to
join me, email back or give me a call 425-865-0276. Hard core and a lot of
birds on the run and by ear. Apart from cuts, scratches, punctures,
abrasions, possibly drowning, and maybe a broken bone or two and ruptured
spleen, there's nothing much to it. Cheers! --Richard >>

This scary come-on attracted two other like-minded die-hard souls, Carl Haynie
and Mary Poss, bless their hearts. Some others queried: "There's a Yellow
Rail at Lake Sammamish?!" Argh, oh dear. Well... no! That was a joke that I
figured everyone would get. But of course, that is not to say there isn't;
just in all probability, probably NOT, and if there is, we'd didn't find it.

After an ominous wet start dousing any hopes for owling and the preemptive
early strike attempt for Virginia Rails, my tape player went belly up in the
rain and we had to work for the rail the hard way -- and ended up only hearing
one VIRA late in the afternoon just by chance. After an hour or so of rain at
the start, the weather improved and was dry from the sky. The 'death march'
count total tied the previous record with 62 species (2,656 individuals)
compared to the last 'death march' done in 1995 which resulted in 62 species
(2,666 individuals), quite startled in fact to discover the *10* individual
birds difference just now this morning, with 1500 of the latter being mostly
unid. gulls compared to 200 unid. gulls this time. Waterfowl species and
numbers were up while sparrows and skulky finchy things were way down and hard
to come by, and a lot of normally expected 'shoe-in' species missed altogether
including Eurasian Wigeon, Rock Dove, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Golden-crowned
and White-crowned Sparrow, and House Sparrow! Not one single token Eurasian
Wigeon in the flock of 550 American Wigeons is unheard of around here where
I've come to almost always find *one* and *just one* in nearly every American
Wigeon flock one comes across anywhere in King County, and especially so in a
single flock as big as this one. I am so disappointed :-(

The devastating and crushing December 1996 ice storm dealt a disastrous blow
to the park, still rendering much of it unrecognizable from past stomps, even
inaccessible in parts with with massive tree and branch falls blocking former
trails and now overgrown with impenetrable brambles of blackberry and
salmonberry.

The ramble in the bramble did manage to cough up one "goodie" -- a state bird
(#338) for me in fact, and a mighty good one indeed for King County. Such
victory for a new species that's not a stake out is oh so sweet. Into the
'barn owl' pine grove at mid afternoon to search for the old reliable same
said species, we hadn't been in the grove for more than 30 seconds when Carl
Haynie, a newcomer to Washington from Texas and quite accustomed to 'death
marches' there so ever so casually mentioned, almost apologetically in fact,
"Oh, there's a Long-eared Owl." "A WHAT?!!" I exclaimed, thinking for sure he
meant to say 'Barn Owl'. Sure enough, a LONG-EARED OWL sitting quietly up
there starring down at us from a branch near the top of a pine; in fact, irony
of all ironies, in the very same tree on the very same branch where I last
*did see* a Barn Owl in there in January 1996, looking incredibly slender and
inconspicuous and every bit as much as a piece of bark or remnant ice storm
broken branch.

Funny and ironic thing about this is that in year's past, before I knew much
of anything about distribution and relevance of Washington birds or really
started paying attention and first discovered Lake Sammamish State Park and
the pine grove for the first time, I had pegged that pine grove as classic-
perfect for Long-eared Owl basing that entirely on past experience in Missouri
and Maryland. I repeatedly went in there THINKING and LOOKING for Long-eared
Owl figuring that I should be seeing one right away. I always found the
forest floor strewn with pellets but no owls. It took me three years before I
ever did find an owl in there! And then, finally uncovering the Barn Owls,
and by then I had finally figured out that Long-eared's were quite rare west
of the Cascades.

Gene Hunn (1982) p101, "Birding in Seattle and King County" cites only three
records for King Co., one bird on a 1947 Seattle CBC, one heard calling on
Vashion Island in December 1980, and one at Discovery Park in April 1978. I
haven't paid enough attention to know if there are additional records over
around here subsequent to 1982 or how many there may be anywhere on the We't
Side for that matter.

I've always been a bit reluctant to reveal locally sensitive owl location
sites, but if you promise to be very careful and quiet; don't go running
around yelling and screaming and crackling through the brambles and snapping
tree limbs, and just plain making a lot of ridiculous and unforgivable noise,
(*You KNOW who you are!*), I'll tell you where to look for this dainty little
fellow. Remember: this is where Ted Bundy launched his nationally notorious
serial killing spree of an earlier recent decade, and violations of the above
said admonitions may rile the "ghost".

The pine grove is located directly across (north) NW Sammamish Parkway
(opposite COSCO in Issaquah's sprawling Pickering Place shopping and office
complex -- a good place to park btw). Enter the park through the gated drive
directly across the parkway, walking north past the Issaquah soccer field on
the left. This very small pine grove is obvious as the 'official park
vehicles only' road enters them about 100 yards north, pines on both sides.
Easiest access and to where the owl was last seen is from near the north end,
where you will see a short little trail through the brambles going off to the
left (west). The Long-eared Owl was perched about 40 feet up on a branch in
the 3rd tree on the left after entering. Yoo hooo.... Ruth Sullllllivan? You
taking pictures? Go there! ....and schussch now! '-)

I don't know the whereabouts of the Barn Owls. This had once been a very
reliable place to find the owls by day. Currently, there are virtually no
fresh pellets (nor old ones) or 'white-wash' to be found anywhere on the
forest floor (nor Long-eared either). So maybe the Barn Owls are elsewhere or
gone altogether. There are plenty of other pines and evergreens to search for
a 'new' roost. If anyone does locate the Barn Owls, please let me know.
Sometimes walking along that road back in there at night reveals the Barn Owls
out screeching and flying about, eerily illuminated by the street lamps from
across the way in Pickering Place, but I always feel a little uneasy (but NOT
deterred) in wandering around in there at night, despite visions of the
'ghost' of Ted Bundy following me, or the police trying to catch the culprit
who was cultivating the vast 'pot' (marijuana) plantations amongst the
brambles along there that made such big news back last June, or just plain
getting shot by same said agriculturalists.

I certainly wish to thank Carl Haynie and Mary Poss for being such good sports
and for their companionship this time around. Both are veteran 'death march'
stompers, Carl, the recent Washington transplant from Texas, and Mary for her
tireless efforts and enthusiasm in the Okanogan. It's always nice to have
corroborating witnesses whenever some little gem turns up, wherever that place
may be. Anyone interested in receiving a copy of the 1997 'death march' CBC
list (and/or 1995 for comparison) may email their request to me and I'll send
it to you individually.

We all survived the death march unscathed, albeit totally burnt, wet, and
exhausted. I had two other functions to attend in the evening and managed to
put together the required second wind to make both, but had a 3rd wind been
required; that was totally out of the question! I've got all of Washington's
owl species now, save for Northern Hawk Owl, and this one I refuse to chase
clear across the state for as a 'stake-out' as I insist on finding this one
all by myself. Buh-bye for now and good luck! BTW; where'd all this snow
come from that I woke up to this morning?!

Richard Rowlett (Pagodroma at aol.com)
47.56N, 122.13W
(Seattle/Bellevue, WA USA)