Subject: 12/23/2002 Swamp Sparrow, Red Phalaropes, Raptors
Date: Dec 23 19:23:38 2002
From: Ryan Merrill - rjm284 at yahoo.com


This morning my sister and I heard and then saw the
SWAMP SPARROW off the end of the boardwalk at Bowerman
Basin. No Bean Goose, but there was a blue phase SNOW
GOOSE that flew over and one normal SNOW GOOSE at the
airport. Several RED PHALAROPES were swimming around
the west side of the Hoquiam STP.

At least one more phalarope was swimming south of the
jetty in Ocean Shores with several seals and SURF
SCOTERS.

The highlight of my day was watching 6 WHITE-TAILED
KITES, 3 NORTHERN HARRIERS, 2 RED-TAILED HAWKS, and 1
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK all flying around a single large
field just west of South Bend. The Kites would hover
several times before swooping down low near the
ground, sometimes landing in a tree and other times on
the ground. The Rough-legged Hawk was buzzed a few
times by a Harrier before also landing on the ground.
Seeing such a wide variety of raptors in one location
was quite a treat.

Good Birding,

Ryan Merrill
Kirkland, WA
mailto:rjm284 at yahoo.com

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