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, before
calling, to review the status of Washington's chickadee species.

[Mailbox previously checked at 5:15 p.m. on February 19, 1997]

9:41 p.m. February 21st - Hi, yes, this is Steve Hammill (?) reporting for
Friday. We just got back about 8:30 from going to see the NORTHERN HAWK
OWL which is still at Cheney. Best places, again, as has been listed
before, to see this owl is to go to the football field and look either two
blocks in any direction from the football field, and you should see it.
Check all the telephone wires, all the treetops, and in the trees.
There's a little yard directly across from the football field that has a
bird feeder in the yard. At one point the [NORTHERN] HAWK OWL was in that
tree, right above the bird feeder, and it was pretty hard to see, even in
the tree. So don't just check the *tops* of trees, check *in* the trees,
too, and it should be there. Like I said, as of Friday it was still
there. And that's it. Good luck. Also we saw the BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS that
were behind some water towers, I believe. Go down Cedar to Ninth or Tenth
and head up one of those two roads and you'll see some water towers, and
they were up in there eating berries -- for the BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS. That's
it. Thank you.

10:30 p.m. February 21st - Hi, this is Gene Revelas in Tacoma, 756-7834.
Me and Martha Taylor and Rick Romeo birded Cheney also today, just to
supplement the previous report. We had the NORTHERN HAWK OWL about one
o'clock, about three blocks north of the stadium area, on the east or
right side of the road as you head north away from campus, just north of
the steam plant, the building with the tall tower. It was right on the
phone lines there, and then it went down into some brambles at times, and
then came back up. That's it. Good luck and good birding!

8:04 p.m. February 22nd - Hi, this is Sean O'Donnell (?). My wife Susie
and I this afternoon got a good look at the gray-phase GYRFALCON that's
west of the Snohomish airport. We first spotted it from the Park 'n Pool
lot that's right off of Route 9 just below the river, spotted it looking
roughly west, in a tree that's next to the irrigation ditch, and then got
better looks at it when we drove along the river road and were probably
about a half mile west of Route 9 and looked south, and got very good
looks at the bird perched in the same tree. Thanks.

8:18 p.m. February 22nd - This is Stan Smith. February 22nd midday, a
GREEN-WINGED TEAL of the Eurasian race was sighted in Elma. Take the
second exit from Elma off Highway 8, turn right, go past Vance County Park
approximately one mile, in a wetlands on the right side, and the bird is
there among many other ducks and a large number of teal. A telescope
would be prudent to have because it's hard to see. End.

9:32 p.m. February 22nd - Gary Bletsch, 360-853-7203. Today at the Fir
Island game range were three or more AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, and these
were found in a flock of about 30 [DARK-EYED] JUNCOS. Leaving the
boat-launch parking lot, go through the first narrow field, then go
through another long,skinny field to out where it widens. And there was a
GREAT HORNED OWL roosting to the right of the field, and that's where the
[AMERICAN] TREE SPARROWS were.

9:52 p.m. February 22nd - This is Hal Opperman at 206-455-1364, reporting
for the Seattle Audubon Society field trip today that visited the old
Vantage Highway, the west side of the Columbia from Vantage down to
Sentinel Gap, and on the other side of the river, Lower Crab Creek, Red
Rock Coulee, and Frenchman Coulee. We found a good seasonal mix of birds.
Highlights were a LONG-EARED OWL roosting in the Russian-olives east of
the Nunnally Lake access along Crab Creek; four SAY'S PHOEBES in three
different localities; 1000 to 1500 migrating [AMERICAN] ROBINS, with two
or three TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES mixed in; about 150 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS at
Wanapum Campground and along Crab Creek a mile or so east of Beverly; one
MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD near the upper end of Schnebly Coulee; and an estimated
eight singing SAGE SPARROWS another mile or so down Schnebly Coulee toward
the river. Fifty-seven species in all on a beautiful, sunny day. Good
luck and good birding!

2:50 p.m. February 23rd - Hello, this is Patrick Sullivan along with Greg
Toffic of Everett. Today the adult gray-phase GYRFALCON was again
observed at 10:45 a.m., approximately a half mile west along the east
entrance of Lowell River Road in Snohomish County, south of Snohomish and
west of the Harvey airport, on a telephone pole on the south side of the
road, over the railroad tracks. The bird was observed ten minutes until
it flew west into a large deciduous tree near a large electrical power.
The immature HARRIS' SPARROW was also observed today at 11:35 a.m. along
the west entrance of Lowell River Road, just outside the Everett city
limits, in brambles along the canal to the south of the road, just over
the first paved bridge. Thank you. Good luck and good birding.

[Mailbox checked last at 4:00 p.m. on February 23, 1997]