Tweets,

Yesterday (31 January), I hiked to the summit of the Rattlesnake Hills
north of home. It was warm and nearly windless and sunny. Quite a beautiful
day and very atypical for January. There were lots of Salt and Pepper in
bloom (Gene Hunn says they're Lomatium gormanii piperi) and the first
storksbills in bloom
(Erodium circutarium).

Horned Larks were madly chasing one another about on the summit grasslands.
They were in such a frenzy I couldn't determine if the Gang of Three were 2
males vying for one female or 2 females desperate for a lone male (are
there any other plausible permutations to this scenario?). The larks have
actually been persistently singing for the past week, which seems a bit
earlier than usual.

Two singing Western Meadowlarks were also earlier than usual (mid-February
on territory singing in the Columbia Basin this far up the Yakima River is
more the norm).

Along the canal by the house was a single Orange-crowned Warbler (amongst
honeysuckle and dodder that cover the brambles as is their favored winter
cover in these parts). Out the front door was a Hermit Thrush. Both the
warbler and thrush are rarely recorded after the Christmas counts in the
Yakima area. Is this because of decreased observer coverage in January or
the usual outbreaks of arctic air that surely thin numbers of lingerers
like these species (add Ruby-crowned Kinglets to this list)? At any rate,
seeing the warbler and thrush is yet more evidence that it has been a mild
winter east of the Cascades.

Susan and I auto-toured the Toppenish Refuge (she broke her ankle last
Sunday at White Pass, so she is reduced to car birding; things have been
worse; luckily her trip to Sun Valley-where there's "real" snow-a week
earlier was without mishap). We were impressed by the numbers of waterfowl:
Canada Geese, Green-winged Teal, Mallard and N. Pintails. The refuge folks,
in conjunction with the Yakama Indian National biologists, Ducks Unlimited
and Pheasants Forever are to be thanked and commended for the very
significant changes in habitat quality on the Toppenish Creek bottomlands
over the past three years. It's amazing! The whole scene reminded me of
winter in one of California's Central Valley marshes rather than what has
been typical for the Lower Yakima Valley. I guess its a combination of
habitat restoration and mild conditions.

The thousands of waterfowl were attracting attendant Bald Eagles (4). We
also saw N. Harriers (7+), Sharp-shinned (1), Cooper's (1) and Red-tailed
Hawks (10+), American Kestrels and one Prairie Falcon.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA