Subject: Toppenish CBC results
Date: Dec 25 11:55:47 1998
From: osprey at nwinfo.net - osprey at nwinfo.net


Hi Tweeters,

Since Andy Stepniewski has been off-line for several weeks, I will give you
the preliminary figures for the Toppenish CBC. The temperature was between
11 and 22 degrees with a light breeze blowing part of the day. It was real
cold.

The 85 species seen were a new record. The number of individuals was
possibly a record also. There were incredible numbers of ducks, especially
Mallards, on the Toppenish NWR.

We found three species new to the count:

1 - Red-necked Grebe - on the Graham-Morris gravel pond north of
Toppenish
4 - Dunlin - on Susie's Pond just west of the gravel ponds
2 - Mountain Bluebirds - one male and one female

We had our first near-tragedy, also. One of the counters stepped to the
edge of the bank along Toppenish Creek to call back his puppy and the bank
gave way under him. He fell into the creek up to his neck. It was about 15
degrees when he fell in the water. He managed to get out of the water but
would not have made it up the steep bank if it had not been for the strong
young man he was with. He felt quite fortunate to have been wearing
polypropolene longies and wool pants and shirt. He went home, made a
martini and set in a hot shower until he warmed up. He even made it to the
after-count dinner.

The final tabulation for the Yakima CBC came in at 86 species including two
that were new for the count - Burrowing Owl and White-throated Sparrow.

Denny Granstrand
Yakima, WA

osprey at nwinfo.net