Howdy Birders,
We spent most of Sat, Feb 7 birding the Umatilla NWR in
south-western Benton County. The weather in the AM was perfect.
(clear, calm & warm) By PM it became cloudy with some wind.
Best birds were 1 EARED GREBE, 1 WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, 130
SNOW GEESE, 40,000 CANADA GEESE!, 2 male CANVASBACKS, 4
HOODED MERGANSERS, 3 TREE SPARROWS, 50 wintering
SANVANNAH SPARROWS, and 2 LINCOLN'S SPARROWS.

Other good birds were: 1 COMMON LOON, 3 HORNED GREBES, 50
PINTAILS (increasing numbers), 50 GADWALLS, 15 RING-NECKED
DUCKS, 10 BALD EAGLES, 1 SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, 1
COOPER'S HAWK, 2 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, 2 BEWICK'S
WRENS, 1 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, and 1 SPOTTED
TOWHEE.
It was sure nice to be surrounded by thousands of noisy geese without
hearing noisy guns! We took time to pick up lots of garbage left over
from killing season.
Good Birding,
Craig

Craig Corder
Judy Stevens
Hermiston
Umatilla County in North-eastern/central Oregon
USA