Subject: December birding in Seattle
Date: Oct 09 21:42:30 1998
From: Steve Hallstrom - toltfarm at jps.net


Please respond directly to Randy.

From: Randy Pinkston
Sent: Monday, October 05, 1998 9:55 PM
To: 'fredbird at halcyon.com'
Cc: 'megapodes at compuserv.com'; 'mdonahue at u.washington.edu'; =
'fdrobny at cairncross.com'; 'jime at eskimo.com'; 'Geopandion at aol.com'; =
'tuftedpuffin at earthlink.net'; 'jbrown at halcyon.com'; =
'martinmuller at msn.com'; 'zoashum at compuserv.com'
Subject: December birding in Seattle

Fellow birders,
I have an opportunity to visit Seattle the week of 8-11 December 1998.
=
This would be my first visit to the Pacific Northwest. I am very =
interested in your suggestions as to the best birding guide(s) for the =

Seattle/coastal Washington areas- the new winter guide, Wahl & Paulson,
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Hunn, others? Species of special interest (i.e.lifers) include =
Red-necked Grebe, Harlequin Duck, Barrow's Goldeneye, Rock Sandpiper, =
Glaucous-winged Gull, and Rhinoceros Auklet or any other alcids. What =

are your intuitions regarding the possibility of finding all of these in

=
a 4-5 day period (with rental vehicle)? How might this best be =
approached? Judging from recent CBC records, I know that Rock Sandpiper

=
might be tough so any tips would be most appreciated. Obviously there =

are many other great birds and beautiful habitats and scenery, not to =
mention superb coffee, that I will enjoy during my visit. And I am not
=
an exclusive "lister" in the worst sense of that word. I just want to =

do my homework so that I can make the most of my 4-5 days.
Just in case you would like to know a little bit about me, I am a =
physician(otolaryngologist) practicing in Temple, Texas, which is about
=
an hour north of Austin in central Texas. I am 42 years old and have =
been actively birding since about 1976, or at least as actively as =
possible during medical school, residency, and while being a husband to
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a non-birder and father to four as yet non-birder sons. My A.B.A. area
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lifelist is still under 600 despite 20+ years' birding.
I thank you all very much in advance. Any and all information you can =

provide will be very much appreciated!
Sincerely,
Randy Pinkston
pinkston at vvm.com (home)
dpinkston at swmail.sw.org (work) =20