I forward this from Andrew Emlen, the compiler of the
Wahkiakum CBC.

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The 1999 Wahkiakum CBC summary

On December 29, thirteen observers participated in the second Wahkiakum
CBC. The Wahkiakum count straddles the lower Columbia river, including
Brownsmead, Nicolai Mountain and the islands of the Lewis & Clark Refuge in
Clatsop County, Oregon; and Puget Island, the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge and
the Skamokawa area in Wahkiakum County, Washington.

Following nearly a week of sunny weather, the clouds came in for count day
along with a light but cold breeze from the northeast. The count turned
up a
few interesting species, including several not found last year. Mike
Patterson regularly discovers a few surprises in Brownsmead, and count day
was no exception - a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, a BRANT, two WHITE-THROATED
SPARROWS and four ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS. Tod Thornton found
ORANGE-CROWNED
WARBLER and TRUMPETER SWAN. Alan Richards and Ann Musch? found a COMMON
YELLOWTHROAT. Several GRAY JAYS turned up in the hills, and four
WHITE-TAILED KITES were on the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge. The most abundant
bird on the count, as expected, was GREATER SCAUP with well over 4000
reported.

Despite observer effort roughly equal to last year, the total number of
species identified on count day was 101 - seven short of last year1s total.
No less than 19 species from last year1s count day were missed on this
year1s. We expected to miss Arctic Loon, but misses also included Horned
Grebe, Ring-billed Gull, Western Gull, and Hermit Thrush. Gulls were scarce
in all areas, and many fields throughout the count area that were flooded
last year and full of waterfowl and gulls were empty of both water and birds
this year. Altogether, a very different count experience from last year.

I had a great day with Dave Helzer, a 12-mile kayak traverse of the
Lewis &
Clark refuge that included large numbers of waterfowl. I encourage any other
boating enthusiasts to join us next year to fill in the gaps on our expanse
of the Columbia and its maze of islands. Four boaters in two parties just
can1t cover it all!

Andrew Emlen, compiler

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--
Mike Patterson Alas, to wear the mantle of Galileo,
Astoria, OR it is not enough to be persecuted
celata at pacifier.com by an unkind establishment,
you must also be right.
---Robert Park
http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html