Boy, what a neat little animal. At the time there was almost no snow on
the ground so I was surprised it was still all white. Of course, it's
snowed for 2 days now so he'll blend in perfectly! I didn't actually see
the weasel catch any birds but this is the first time I've seen a weasel
here in a couple of years. Of course, that doesn't mean it's NOT been
here! I don't know the species. I'm guessing short-tail because it's so
small. I couldn't see the tail but the whole body was white. It kept
racing from brush pile to brushy area and over to the other brush pile,
charging the feeding birds but not catching anything while I watched. The
seed I put on the ground for the quail is usually under overhanging
branches from the trees (lowlying and lots of thin branches touching the
ground) so there's some protection from overflying predators. After
seeing the weasel I've put the feed under some high branches of the
willows so they can see the weasel coming and still have a little
protection overhead.

I saw my first varied thrush of the year Sunday but not since, and
although I saw one spotted towhee on Sunday, this storm has brought them
out to the feeders and there were six here yesterday. It looked like
spring was here this weekend and I cleaned all the bluebird houses and
got them ready for occupation, hoping to see a flash of blue at anytime.
Hah! I know, I know...anyone that lives in eastern WA can tell you "There
ain't no spring in March!"

Regards, Joanne
Joanne Powell
Reardan (Spokane) WA
mailto: jopowell2 at juno.com