Tweeters,

At my parent's cabin on Hood Canal (1 mile east of Twanoh State Park)
Fox Sparrows appear to be more abundant than Song Sparrows. At least,
while I was there I saw four Fox Sparrows at a time and never a Song
Sparrow. I have rarely seen Fox Sparrows at my house south of Olympia
(though plenty of Song Sparrows). Varied Thrushes are present in force at
the cabin on the Canal and I heard the vocalizations that Kelly Cassidy
mentioned, quite different from the typical spring vocalization. Juncos and
Douglas Squirrels were also busy at the feeder on the deck.

Bald Eagles are just about everywhere. Saw one adult perched near Mud
Bay (southern end of Eld Inlet) and 4 (2 adults, 2 subadults) at the
Kennedy Creek estuary. The estuary was alive with a busy "avian scavenging
guild". There were Crows, eagles, gulls, and lots of Bufflehead (are they
scavenging? maybe not). I saw Mew Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls,
Glaucous-winged Gulls and Western Gulls. A few Starlings and Great Blue
Herons were hanging around and, out on the more distant mudflats, there were
hundreds of Black-bellied Plovers and Dunlin (perhaps thousands). There was
one small flock of Pintails.

Jon Anderson referred to our recent bout of freezing rain as a "silver thaw".
This is the second time I have heard this term in the last week. What a
curious name. Where does the "thaw" come from? I could better understand
"silver rain" but the "thaw" part seems to have little to do with the
phenomenon.

Kelly McAllister
Olympia, Washington