This report was mailed for Doug Canning by http://birdnotes.net

Date: December 26, 2001
Location: Brady Loop Road Area, Grays Harbor County, Washington

Low temperature: 3 degrees celsius High temperature: 8 degrees celsius
Wind direction: S Prevailing wind speed: 6-11 km/h gusting to: 12-19
km/h Percentage of sky covered by clouds: 90% Precipitation: none

Between 1000 and 1222 I conducted a reconnaissance of the area in
preparation for the Satsop Christmas Bird Count on the 29th. I made
little attempt to seek out song birds, so those species got short
shrift. The farm fields are well ponded, but some of the water
surfaces had ice. Also, the soils are saturated but some (many?)
fields are frozen, thus the low numbers of shorebirds, gulls
Starlings, and Icterids. In addition to the species noted, I also saw
19 swan spp. in flight and two distant, unidentifiable raptors.

Birds seen (in taxonomic order):

American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) 1 [1]
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 2
American Wigeon (Anas americana) 29
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 27
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) 5
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) 100
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 29
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 1
American Coot (Fulica americana) 25
Dunlin (Calidris alpina) 10
Mew Gull (Larus canus) 1
Unidentified gull (Larus sp.)
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 2
Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) 6 [2]
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 600 [3]
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) 2
Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius) 1
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) 1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 3
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) 1

Footnotes:

[1] Heard.
[2] Seen foraging in abandoned, year-old corn field.
[3] Seen foraging in or hanging out near a pumpkin field and an
adjacent harvested corn field

Total number of species seen: 20


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Douglas Canning
Olympia, Washington
dcanning at nisquallyestuary.org
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