Subject: Spring has sprung..........or has it?????
Date: Apr 9 18:29:51 2001
From: Gerald Hamilton - gerald at e-z.net


-------------A very slow drive through JBH Whitetail Deer Refuge near
Cathalamet, Wash. yielded nothing really unusual-------some Wood Ducks,
Common Mergs(along with other species of late wintering ducks);.an
Osprey; a Red-throated Loon; a Cinnamon Teal; Greater Yellowlegs;
Savannah and Song Sparrows; Tree Swallows; Stellars Jays , etc......
etc......etc.
.................7 Turkey Vultures there were......then there was the
bright yellow Skunk Cabbage!!!!!.......and yes...........that black and
yellow songbird that flew by so fast it defied identification!!! (-:
.................A beautiful Bald Eagle and hugh Red-tailed Hawk posed
for me along Hwy 4 along Naselle River.
..................Leadbetter Point State (Long Beach pen.) parking lot is
closed till May 25th----so getting to the Willapa Bay beach area either
is by a very wet, muddy in places west trail through woods, or a .8 mile
walk up the bay beach (when the tide permits). Enormous numbers of
Geen-winged Teals and Common Merganser(both here and on bay along
Hwy.101) seen along with lots of West Sands.;Dunlin; several Long-billed
Dowitchers; and quite a few Greater Yellowlegs. A large flock of black
ducks way out (Brant????), but too far out for even my new spotting
scope to see clearly.
.................After snow and rain mixed Sat at Skamkowa, and snow
falling over the Hwy 4 coast summit, and the ground white with hail in
several locations, it was a lovely sunny Sun. aft. on the Pacific ocean
side---north peninsula. Hugh flocks of Dunlin and Black Bellied Plovers(
....the Dunlin getting their copper,white and black breeding coloration,
and the Plovers anywhere from full black and white to "getting there").
Sanderlings everywhere; a few West. Sandpipers and a goodly number of
Short-billed Dowitchers mixed in with the Plovers and Dunlin.( the
Dowitchers also were "changing over" and makes for some very interesting
identification problems----however the spotted sides and breasts rather
than barred and the lighter bill indicated Short-bills ( I was trying to
get closer to identified several really red-breasted Dowitchers
(Long-bills???) when a loose, unleased Black Labrador dog chased away
the flock (amid silent curses and very foul thoughts towards its said
owner).
....,....All-in-all a banquet of birds for sight and soul to feast
on!!!!!

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