Gerald,

Re mystery bird: wouldja believe...you might have seen your black terns
after all? Just a stab, but juvenile or first summer black tern kinda
sorta fits your description. Does that seem plausible?

Jim McCoy
jfmccoy at earthlink.net
Redmond, WA



-----Original Message-----
From: Gerald Hamilton [mailto:gerald at e-z.net]
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2001 6:23 PM
To: Wash. Tweeters
Subject: On a Sunday afternoon..........


Yesterday aft. at Ridgefield NWR--River-S unit(north of Vanc. Wash.):
.............1 Tundra Swan; 6 Black-necked Stilts( just across road from
Kiwi Trail); 1 Greater Yellowleg(with an injured leg); 2 Wilson's
Phalaropes ( M & F--a breeding pair most likely); Killdeer; about 5 Am.
Bitterns; heard but not seen: Virginia Rails; but.............*no* Black
Terns seen!!!!
.............Then there were the numerous Cinnamon and Blue-winged Teals;
along with Scaup; Shovelers; Pied-billed Grebes; and 5 Ruddy Ducks with
the blue bills.
..............Up in the air and in trees: Red-winged and Yellow-headed
Blackbirds; White-breasted Nuthatches and Goldfinches; Purple and House
Finches; Savannah and Lincoln's Sparrows; 1 Bewick's Wren;2 Cedar
Waxwings; 1 Brown Creeper; House Wrens; 1 Warbling Vireo; Scrub Jays;
Tree, Violet-green, Cliff, and Barn Swallows (including the nest with
young Barn Swallows and one very agitated momma in the observation blind
at Rest Lake), and ...............all the rest of the perching birds I
didn't see!!!!!!!!!
...............Oh where, oh where were the Yellowthroats today????
................Finally-----the 'mystery bird': Unidentified (several)
white birds( white head included) with med. grey wings( *no* wing bars
seen)---a little bigger than a swallow, but not with as rapid off a
wingbeat as swallows. Frequently hovered than dived over wetlands( like
grabbing insects) Since none of then ever landed but kept flying
back-and-forth overhead, couldn't observve what color top of bird was.
Now.......what could I have seen????????

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