Rob:
I was just passing through the same area today and My niece, grandniece and
I saw the scissor-tailed flycatcher too! For us, it was on the road to
Frenchman's Coulee which is very near the road to the Gorge and Ephrata.
Whoopee!
Rahne Kirkham
Federal Way, Washington
rahnek at foxinternet.com
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle."
Philo
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rob Conway" <robin_birder at hotmail.com>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2003 02:46 PM
Subject: Grant County Scissor Tailed Flycatcher


> Tweets,
>
> As a passenger on the long drive from Bellevue to Ephrata this morning I
was
> able to do a lot of birdwatching along the way. The driver was amused as
I
> called out and logged birds until I screamed "STOP THE CAR AND TURN
AROUND"
> when I spotted a Scissor Tailed Flycatcher on a utility wire between
George
> and Ephrata in Grant County, WA. The bird was spotted at about 8:45 AM
near
> mile post 4 on Highway 283 on the right side of the road (headed toward
> Ephrata) near a farm house with a big row of poplar trees and a number of
> sheep in a pen between the house and the road. I observed the bird for
> about 10 minutes with binoculars during which time it hawked at least 4
> flying insects.
>
> My notes: a definite Tyrannidae flycatcher. I called out kingbird at
first
> glance from 100 or so yards away. Extremely long black tail with white
> outer feathers. Pale grey head and flanks, white underparts with quite
pink
> flanks. Wings very dark grey to black. Tail feathers have extremely
clean
> edges - no wear indicating caging. Estimate at 12" long. No calls.
Hawked
> insects from utility wire. No mistaking this bird - have seen dozens in
> Oklahoma and Texas.
>
> I never expected to see this bird in Washington!
>
> Rob Conway
> Newcastle, WA and Calgary, Alberta
>
> robin_birder at hotmail.com
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE*
> http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
>
>