----------------Went to Long Beach peninsula this weekend, but between
icy winds off the ocean Sat......and....thunder and lightening over the
ocean Sun. morn.....frequent rain showers, and two episodes of
double-rainbows sighted Sun. afternoon.....well, there was little
birding done. Plenty of Sanderlings on the ocean beaches, and, equally
plentiful West. Sandpipers , Dunlin and Black-bellied Plovers on Willapa
bay side. And of course gulls and crows everwhere. Saw one loon(species
unidentifiable due to distance), a flock of brant, and a bald eagle, but
nothing else "to crow about"!!!!
----------------At Julia Butler Hansen White-tail Deer Refuge saw a
number of Common Goldeneyes, a Horned Grebe, an Eared Grebe, Lesser
Scaup, among other more common "puddle-ducks". No deer or elk were seen
at all. Anumber of smaller wren-sized birds were spotted, but I didn't
stop to determine what species they were.
----------------Last Monday's visit to Nisqually NWR east of Olympia was
very enjoyable. The nice day, beautiful views of snow-covered Olympic
Mts, North Cascade mts behing the view of the Tacoma Narrows bridge, and
snow-capped Mt. Ranier, along with meeting many wonderful people made
this first visit to this refuge memorable. Did about 6 1/2 miles of
hiking. What did I see????????

Rufous-sided Towhee
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
a Pileated Woodpecker( this was a life bird for me....they were around
other refuge visits, but I have never been in the right spot or place to
see one). This one was drilling in a snag right next to the path and
seemed utterly unperturbed by all the gaukers and people walking right
beneath him!!! A ringside seat for this beautiful bird......
Bald Eagles---both mature and immature
Rough-legged Hawk(1)
Red-tailed Hawks
Harrier Hawks
Blue Herons(hundreds in the trees at the heron rookery at the west side
of the refuge-never seen seen so many herons in one spot!!!!)
Common Mergansers
Hooded Merganser(1 female)
Double-crested cormorants
Greater Gcaup(1 female)
Lesser Scaup
Common Goldeneyes
Eared Grebes
Western Grebes
Pied-billed Grebes
Greater Yellowlegs(1)
Huge numbers of West. Sandpipers and Dunlin(it was very low tide!!!)
Gadwalls
Mallards
Widgeons
Green-winged Teals
Ruby-crowned Kinglets
Robins
Pintails
No. Shovelers
and......some 'very large' Canada Geese.
-------and anything else that may have been there that I didn't see!!!!!

..............A parting question: What has happened to all of the
Ring-necked Ducks????? I used to see many, many of these particular
ducks, but have seen next to none the last 2 years. All theories
explaining the "disappearance" of these ducks would be most welcome.

Gerald Hamilton
Brush Prairie, Wash.
gerald at e-z.net