.....................On the Salmon Creek ponds here in Brush Prairie,
Wash.(about 20 miles north-ne of Vancouver, Wash.) there were 8 Hooded
Mergansers(2 males, and 6 females) along with 4 Ring-necked Ducks,
Widgeons, Mallards, and a Heron.
.....................At River-S Unit of Ridgefield NWR (again just north
of Vancouver) the air was noisy with the quacking of "zillions" of ducks
(Especially Pintails....they were *everywhere*!!!!). A few Scaup,
Pied-billed Grebes, Green-winged Teals, and the rest of the usual winter
migrants....black and white and otherwise!!!!
.....................8 Trumpeter Swans were in the middle of what passed
as Rest Lake. *More* Pintails swam around them. An obliging male Harrier
Hawk kept swooping around and around low to the ground, catching a
rodent or snake at several times.
.....................As evening drew near the air was filled with the
choruses of Canada Geese and Tundra Swans ( a pond near the maintenance
shop was host to seemingly hundreds of Tundra Swans, and........the
fields at the east end were blanketed by a number of hugh flocks of the
smaller Canada Geese--which held what appeared as 3 different subspecies
of Canadas---including some with red bands with white letters around
their necks). As the sun went down, and the air grew chilly, the geese
and swans played their parting symphony to me----a *concert* that plays
a tribute to the wonderful Creator of all this, and makes me eager to
come back for more. Truly, this is the "Greatest Show on Earth"!!!!

Cheers!!!!

Gerald Hamilton
Brush Prairie, Wash.
gerald at e-z.net