Tweets,

Early this afternoon, there was a single Barn Swallow flying around the
large shallow ponds that lie a couple hundred ft. west of the west parking
lot. Cream colored below, so not an adult male. Presumably another example
of the winter Barn Swallow pattern of recent winters, which has generated a
variety of hypotheses aired on Tweeters in past winters.

A few other sightings: N. Shrike (behind the twin barns 75 m.), Merlin (same
area), Peregrine Falcon (perching behind visitor center), Sharp-shinned
Hawk, fully dark-morph adult Red-tailed Hawk, lots of N. Harriers. We saw
several hundred minima and other Canada Geese and one Greater White-fronted
Goose, but did not see the two Ross's Geese of recent weeks. Apparently
they were seen by others earlier in the day. Most of the waterfowl in the
south part of the Refuge were skittish and moving frequently, with shotguns
audible from the creek. The geese seemed to be spending much of the time
out of sight in the more heavily vegetated wetland areas than grazing on the
short grass fields.

Good birding,
Bob Sundstrom
ixoreus at scattercreek.com
Along Scatter Creek, east of Tenino, WA