Transcribed by Jane Hadley
jhadle at uswest.net
phone: (206) 328-7605

The Washington BirdBox is a voice mailbox sponsored by
the Washington Ornithological Society. To leave a message
about a notable sighting, or to listen to the messages from the
last seven days, call (425) 454-2662 and follow the
prompts.

Hal Opperman is system administrator
(halop at accessone.com; personal phone 425-635-0503).

Please contact me (Jane Hadley) by phone or e-mail if you
have any corrections, comments or questions about this
transcription.

Friday, December 24, 1999, 6:26 p.m. John O'Connell,
Anacortes, 360-299-4375. Today in Everett at Marine Park
in trees adjacent to the boat launch, a single
TOWNSEND'S WARBLER.

Friday, December 24, 1:59 p.m. Hi, this is Martha Taylor, at
206-523-4677, and I wanted to report a NORTHERN
SHRIKE in my yard, which is in the View Ridge area of
Seattle. We heard the CHICKADEES squawking and then
we saw a bird under a tree by the feeders, and it was not a
SHARPIE as I expected. It was a NORTHERN SHRIKE.
Good luck and good birding.

Tuesday, December 21, 5:38 p.m. Hello, this is Scott
Atkinson reporting details for the Sequim-Dungeness
Christmas Bird Count held yesterday, the 20th of
December. A preliminary tally last night indicated around
142 species with one or two parties left to report and details
pending on several species. Two of those were from my
territory, which was the hunting preserve of Grays Marsh,
closed to the public, except for the beach access, where the
extraordinary highlight was a fall plumage BOBOLINK - no
kidding, a BOBOLINK. Bird was first spotted at about
10:45 in a flock of 35 SAVANNAH SPARROWS feeding
in low-grass habitat on the main field east of the berry farm. I
followed the bird east from the main field for about 10
minutes, at which time I was joined by Ann Winsky (sp?),
who also saw the bird, and we followed it until it flew with
the SAVANNAHS all the way out to the public beach
access, where there's some rose thickets. It then at about
11:15 flew back into the main field with the SAVANNAH
SPARROWS. Also exceptional for Grays Marsh was an
out-of-season HOUSE WREN seen at point-blank range
later in the afternoon from the north edge of Kleinerson(?)
Meadow. Also noteworthy at Grays Marsh were a
EURASIAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL and eight
SPARROW species, including two SWAMP and two
WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS. Outside of Grays
Marsh, another unusual report was that of an apparent male
LARK BUNTING seen briefly while perched on power
lines in a BLACKBIRD flock at the Northwest Raptor
Center this side of the North Sequim off of Henderson Road
and to the east of Railroad Bridge Park along the Dungeness
River. Other count highlights heading east to west in the
count circle included reports of single
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS from the Chicken
Coop Road and the Port Washington territories; an
ANNA's HUMMINGBIRD at a feeder in the West Sequim
Bay area; a WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH and a
BARRED OWL near the extreme southern edge of the
circle close to the Dungeness Forks campground. From the
Jamestown area near the Three Crabs restaurant, there was
a MARBLED GODWIT and a late SEMI-PALMATED
PLOVER, and just to the west of there at the Oysterhouse
there was a RED KNOT. Another RED KNOT, a
GYRFALCON, and 24 ANCIENT MURRELETS were
reported for the Dungeness Spit. And two GYRFALCONS
were seen together from the tip of the spit by the boat party
that headed out from the John Wayne Marina. That party
also found 483 ANCIENT MURRELETS in the open water
at the north edge of the circle. Lastly, a first-winter
GLAUCOUS GULL was at the Olympic Game farm. That's
all.

Tuesday, December 21, 2:31 p.m. Hi, this is Stephen
Mlodinow. Today Dennis Duffy and I birded around
Monroe. The highlight was a GLAUCOUS GULL. This bird
was just south of the prison dairy in a flooded field. There
was also 3,370 MEW GULLS, a couple HERRINGS, a
couple THAYER'S, several hundred
GLAUCOUS-WINGS, one WESTERN, couple
HYBRIDS, and a RING-BILL. At the Two Rivers Wildlife
Management Area, there were two WHITE-THROATED
SPARROWS and a GREEN HERON, and at the Monroe
Prison dairy pond, the GREAT EGRET remains. Good luck
and good birding.

Messages last checked 6 p.m. Sunday, December 26,
1999.

--
Jane Hadley
jhadle at uswest.net
Seattle, WA