The Washington Birdbox is a voice mailbox sponsored by the Washington
Ornithological Society. To leave messages about a notable sighting, or to
listen to messages from the last seven days, call (425) 454-2662 and follow
the prompts. Hal Opperman, system administrator (halop at accessone.com):
personal phone (425) 635-0503 is the person to report troubles with the
system.

Please contact me, Patti Gotz, by phone or e-mail (mailto:plsgotz at home.com)
if you have any
corrections, comments, or questions about this transcription.

January 1, 12:41 AM. Hello, this is Scott Atkinson. I just wanted to
report that for the 31st I was one of several birders who relocated the
MOUNTAIN PLOVER at the previous place described location at Ft. Canby State
Park at the north jetty. Also, I received a third hand report that the
WHITE IBIS reported for the 30th out along Bay Center Rd. was relocated on
the afternoon of the 31st at the Port of Ilwaco, specifically at a small
grassy field where boats are dry docked and trailers are parked. I looked
for the bird right as dusk set in on the 31st but was unable to relocate
it. I just thought I'd pass that along. That's all.

January 1, 7:37 PM. This is Bill Shelmerdine in Olympia, 866-9106. And
birding yesterday morning and this morning the Vancouver Lake area of Clark
County, there was a CLAY COLORED SPARROW at about 7/10 of a mile north of
the turnoff from Frenchman's Bar along Lower River Rd. And then there was
still at least one AMERICAN TREE SPARROW at the entrance to Shillapoo Lake
on the other fork, the other road along Vancouver Lake there at the old
silage pile. There was also a NORTHERN SHRIKE in that area and there was
one YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD in a large blackbird flocks where the
TRI-COLORED had been. I did not see the TRI-COLOREDS however. Good luck
and good birding.

January 2, 10:37 AM. Hi, this is John Comstock, 415-221-4810, ext.
2441. On December 27-29, I twice sited a GYRFALCON in Ocean Shores along
the beach, Ocean Shores, Washington, intersection of Taurus Rd. The first
time was when it hit a NORTHERN FULMAR and started eating it. Two other
birders along the way also saw this medium gray bird, distinct from the
other PEREGRINE FALCON on Damon Pt. which has been feeding there for a
number of days. I only saw the GYR one time, did not get a picture. It
may still be frequenting the area. Good luck.

January 3, 10:29 AM. Hello, this is Wayne Weber from Delta, B.C. My phone
number is 604-597-7201. I'm phoning to report the continued presence of
the COMMON BLACK-HEADED GULL in Delta along 36th Ave. between 64th and 72nd
Sts., north of Boundary Bay. The bird was feeding in the fields yesterday
with a lot of MEW GULLS and other gulls around 11 o'clock. It's been seen
consistently in this area for 6 days in a row. The bird does move around a
bit, it flies quite frequently but if you're looking in that area for it
and you have a bit of patience, you should be able to find it. Further
details are on the Vancouver Rare Bird Alert at 604-737-3074.

January 3, 9:42 PM. Hello, it's Wayne Weber from Delta, B.C. reporting
again. Today, I was at the Big Ditch access to the Skagit Wildlife Area
this afternoon located just north of Stanwood in Snohomish County. There
were two SNOWY OWLS in the area where they've been reported for the last
couple of weeks. Outside the dike, in the marsh, about half a mile north
from the end of the access road and parking area. At one point one of the
birds could be seen with a spotting scope from the parking area. There was
nothing else terribly unusual in the area but there were about 35 TRUMPETER
SWANS feeding in the nearby field and about 700 or 800 SNOW GEESE feeding
along the shoreline. That's it for today.

January 5, 11:40 AM. Hi, this is Steven Mlodinow. Yesterday, Tom Aversa,
Steve Gerstle and I birded the coast on the Long Beach Peninsula and Long
Beach side of Willapa Bay as well. The MOUNTAIN PLOVER was still present
at the north jetty of the Columbia at Ft. Canby State Park. This time it
was actually quite close to the jetty itself only about 100 feet away
sheltering under a very small stack of wood, something about the size of my
fist. That was in the afternoon. Other highlights included a GLAUCOUS
GLAUCOUS WINGED HYBRID at Bay Center and at the base of Leadbetter Point,
the Willapa Bay side, we had 690 WESTERN SANDPIPERS and about 25 LEAST
SANDPIPERS and two SEMI-PALMATED PLOVERS along with a couple thousand
DUNLIN. That's about it. Good luck and good birding.

January 7, 1:15 PM. This is Alan Grenon at 206-329-5996 and I was at the
north jetty of the Columbia River yesterday January 6th and the MOUNTAIN
PLOVER was indeed present and hanging out between at least 11:30 and 2:00
and it's still in the area described earlier between the two driftwood
beach shelters just north of the jetty. Good luck.

January 7, 2:13 PM. Hi, this is Mike Donahue and Alan Knue I are in
Stanwood right now. It's a little bit after 2 o'clock and we're watching a
male GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE that's perched on an antenna of someone's
house. We are at the corner of 276th St. which runs east and west, and
it's right on Old Pacific Hwy where that turns into 102nd Ave. just on the
north end of Stanwood. We've been watching it for about a half an hour.

January 7, 3:19 PM. Hello, this is Craig Kemper 206-789-9255 reporting
for Sunday, January 7th. At 2:50 PM, Craig Kemper and I relocated the
GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE reported by Michael Donahue and Alan Grenon. To reach
this bird, travel west on SR 526 from Interstate 5 towards Stanwood and
Camano Island. Take a right on 102nd Ave. N.W. heading north toward Big
Ditch. At the intersection of 276th St. N.W. to the right or east is a
white house with black trim with an aerial atop the house. We saw this
bird first on a light pole here, it flew up to the antenna or aerial and
then flew south to the aerial atop a blue house. We watched the bird for
about 15 minutes. Thank you.

January 7, 3:26 PM. Hi, this is Steven Mlodinow. Dennis Duffey and I are
looking at the GRACKLE at the corner of 102nd and 276th in Stanwood. This
is the GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE, Craig Kemper gives good directions in the next
message. It is still on the antenna above the blue house. Also, earlier
today we saw a NORTHERN HAWK OWL. This bird is up in Whatcom County. Go
to Exit 270 from I-5. This is the Birch Bay Exit. However, go to the
east, to Stein Rd., make a left on Stein Rd. and go north. After a short
distance, maybe a mile or so, maybe less, you'll see a big raspberry patch,
a cultivated raspberry patch on your right. Look over the field, look in
the trees there behind the raspberries, that's where the bird was
seen. Also if you go then south on Stein Rd. to the first street then go
east to the next street which is Delta Line Rd., make a left on Delta Line
Rd. you can view that same field from Delta Line Rd. sometimes getting
better looks at the bird. So the directions again, take exit 270 from I-5,
go east to Stein Rd., go north on Stein Rd. until you see a cultivated
raspberry field on the right, and scan over that field and if you can't see
the bird from that access, go back around the Delta Line Rd. which is the
next road to the east and look over that same field from Delta Line
Rd. This bird apparently from the Christmas Count a week ago but word was
not out until late yesterday when the bird was confirmed by birders. Take
care.

January 8, 9:55 AM. This is Bob Morris around 9:45 in the town of
Stanwood. The GRACKLE was not again seen this morning, at its location it
was located in yesterday but was relocated about 9:30 this morning at
Pioneer Hwy. and 272nd St.. The directions for getting to the bird would
be to go in the main road going in towards Stanwood and take a right onto
Pioneer Hwy. and at the intersection of 272nd St. the bird was located
there. It's been moving around quite a bit. It was downhill about a
quarter mile near the Wolf Kill Feed and Seed Store when last seen around
10:00 this morning. Thank you and good luck.

January 8, 11:09 AM. This is Tim Perkins, 425-868-1696. I have a belated
report for Thursday, January the 4th. south of Carnation, had a first
winter HARRIS' SPARROW at the corner of West Snoqualmie River Rd. and E.
Main St. The bird was seen at about 11:30 AM in a flock of about 30-50
GOLDEN-CROWNED AND WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS. It was seen perched in a low
willow tree across the street from an old barn. That's all. Good luck.

January 8, 3:20 PM. This is Brian Bell calling, 425-485-8058. The HAWK
OWL was present at the 8699 Stein Rd. location this morning roughly between
the time periods of about 9:30 and 11 o'clock when we left. The bird was
variously seen in the middle of the field between Stein Rd. and Delta Line
Rd.. It flew to some conifers and when we left the bird was sitting on a
utility pole on the west side of Stein Rd. just north of 8699. A beautiful
bird. Have good birding when you go up.

January 8, 7:45 PM. Hi, this is Paul Cozens, 206-935-0561. The
GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE was seen today, January 8th, at about 2:45 PM at the
Wolf Kill Feed Plant, west of Old Pioneer Highway off Cedar Home Drive near
the railroad tracks. The bird was last seen on utility wires with about
150 starlings. From there, Ben Feltner and I went to Big Ditch and found
two young SNOWY OWLS very distant but we found them from the dike with
telescopes, so that is possible. And, a flyby GYRFALCON ended our
birding. Thank you.

BirdBox last accessed about 3:00 PM, January 9, 2001
























Patti Gotz
Seattle, Washington - Roosevelt Neighborhood
plsgotz at home.com
206-524-3738