Hi Tweeters,

This morning I found a Common Grackle on Birchfield Road 1.3 miles south of
Highway 24 east of Yakima. To get there take the Nob Hill Blvd/Highway 24
exit off I-82 Go east about two miles. You will pass K-Mart on the right
with a traffic light at the highway. The next traffic light, in about two
miles, will be Birchfield Road. Turn right and go south 1.3 miles. There is
a little farm with corrals with llamas and horses. The grackle is in a
flock 50-100 Brewer's Blackbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, starlings and a
few Brown-headed Blackbirds.

The grackle has a greenish irridescent head with that color going down onto
the upper breast. The back, lower breast and belly are bronze with the
wings being purplish. It is noticeably larger that the Brewer's Blackbirds,
with a longer, keel-shaped tail. The bill is also much larger than the
blackbirds.

The flock moves from fairly close to the west side of Birchfield on the
south side of set of corrals with llamas and horses to far west of the road
to a pasture with cows. There are two small creeks going through the
pasture area that they also go into and then disappear from view. One time
they landed in a pasture on the east side of Birchfield.

I think this is the first Yakima County record for Common Grackle. In a few
minutes I will have a couple of photos on the BirdYak website:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/birdyak/

I will try to go out tomorrow morning to see if it is still there.

Denny
* * * * * * * * * * *
* Denny Granstrand *
* Yakima, WA *
* osprey at nwinfo.net *
* * * * * * * * * * *