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09/18/97

Hi Russell & Darrell & others --

rrogers at halcyon.com
jwhipple at columbia-center.org

I just wanted to report a few birds, before your
Sept 20th cutoff --

17 Sept: We saw 16 Red-necked Phal. on pond near our
house, Naselle, Pacific co., T10N, R9W (AR + Ann Musche')

18 August: Red Knot seem near Deep River, Wahkiakum co.,
T10N, R8W by Richard Abrams, Cliff Wymer. Described:
-- reddish breast, not tan (not Buff-Br)
-- whitish rump, u.t. coverts
-- rather small beak relative to size of bird
-- I quizzed him on this for several minutes -- they were
'very sure' about the ID, looked at it from distance as close
as 10 feet (!!), for about 15 minutes -- it was after some rain,
in wet grassy / muddy / open area in Cliff's yard.

16 August: Pine Grosbeak, 1, male in Lewis co., W of Packwood,
T13N, R8E -- pinkish breast, belly; two bright white wing stripes
on black wings; call was very sweet, sounding like combination
of W Tanager, Purple Finch, Gray Jay. For awhile, Ann and I
were thinking it sounded like Gray Jays, which were around our
camp quite a bit during 4 days, but this one sound was not only
the whistle note of GJ -- I tried imitating it, and sure enough,
it flew in for a good view.

Finally, lately on Tweeters there have been threads re exotic /
wild / introduced animals; falcons; fall migration; pets &/or
other animals carried away by raptors; and the usual
perpetual threads about yardbirds and feeder birds. It was with
great interest that Ann & I witnessed the concurrence or near
colliding of all of these threads for a few instants in our own
Naselle yard, on 7 Sept. We have had a Ringed Turtle-Dove in
our yard, off and on, since 23 July this year. We thought it would
not last long, however as of this morning (18 Sept) it is still around
on almost daily basis. We don't know where it came from -- it does
not appear to be wearing any bands or other ID. It is very tame --
we have picked it up on occasion, and it hangs around our garden
and approaches us closely on many occasions. Ann had not seen
it for a day or two on 7 Sept due to her work schedule &/or random
events / schedule of the t-dove. So, while we were having dinner
out in our yard (this was back during the summer part of this fall),
Ann heard the t-dove calling. She went over into the garden, while
I continued to sit and eat (priorities, priorities). Ann went so far as
to imitate the t-dove's calls, trying to lure it into the garden, where
we usually have some food set out for it. All of a sudden, I am
hearing this loud "swoosh" from overhead and behind me. It happens
so fast that I do not have time to turn my head before .... zoom! a
Peregrine Falcon screeches to almost a hovering / stall speed over
our garden. The large body with very pointy wings held close to the
body, clear whitish breast are visible to me very briefly, and then
the large bird glides easily into the trees and out of sight. Our five
ducks saw the falcon slightly before I did -- this bird was not
called Duck Hawk for just a whim. I am momentarily stunned.
I start to yell to Ann for confirmation of this stupendous (so
to speak) event. She is still imitating the t-dove,
which is still secreted away in the trees -- wisely, it would seem.
Ann is unable to confirm the sighting -- she was about four feet
below the bird. Enough excitement for one afternoon.

Russell -- see you on the winter pelagic trip?

Good birding,

Alan -- note new e-mail address:
mrm at WILLAPABAY.ORG
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