Dear Tweets,

I'm enjoying the flocks of sandhills flying southward and eastward over my
house this week. They come in low over the trees from the Columbia River,
and I am waiting for them because they announce their coming with their
distinctive (and to me very pleasing) vocalizations. (Has someone
incorporated these calls into a relaxation tape?)

When they get to my place they probably see there is even higher ground
ahead of them, so they start circling upward on thermals, babbling most of
the time.

Yesterday I counted a group of 22 and a group of 3. Today three groups in
succession that totaled 44.

Darrel Whipple
Rainier, Oregon
dwhipple at columbia-center.org