Hi Tweets,

Well, I have been mulling this one over for the last
week. I have had a very memorable year, seeing some
great birds without having to go very far or try very
hard (Costa's Hummingbird and Long-tailed Jeager were
only a 20 minute drive from my house). After hiking
the Wonderland Trail at Mount Rainier and then
spending a week in the Canadian Rockies, it looked
like my decision was going to be a really tough one.

Then, on the last day of the year, I saw something
which I think will stick in my mind longer than any of
my other birding experiences this year. While helping
out with the Skagit Bay CBC today, we found a pair of
Snow Buntings on Maupin road, just south of Rawlin's,
near the North Fork access of Skagit WRA. Less than
10 feet from the side of the road, first on the mud
and then standing at the edge of the grass. With the
sound of thousands of snow geese in an adjacent field
and thousands more overhead, these two white birds
from the north just took my breath away.

Happy New Years!

Michael Dossett
Bothell
Phainopepla at yahoo.com

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