Just a quick summary of what we had beginning Tuesday Dec. 30 to Saturday Jan. 3. Left Vancouver around 2 am Tuesday morning and met Marv Breece at the park & ride at Preston. Our target first for the day was the Black-and-white Warbler at Daroga State Park in Douglas Co. The warbler was fairly easy to find as there wasn't many birds around. There was 1 Downy Woodpecker, 2 Mountain Chickadees and 3 or so Golden-crowned Kinglets, followed loosely behind was the Black-and-white Warbler. Next we tried to find the Great Gray Owl that was seen in Chelan Co.--no luck so we headed north and found 2 Trumpeter Swans along the Columbia River just north of the Okanogan-Chelan County line. Bridgeport Bar produced lots of American Tree Sparrows which is one of the most reliable places in winter in Washington to find them. In Bridgeport we found a Merlin and 2 Dippers in Foster Creek just above where it dumps into the Columbia River. South of Electric City we found Bohemian Waxwings and right before dark at Spring Creek, Lincoln Co. sitting on the boat ramp under a metal foot ramp was a very cold Wilson's Snipe.

Wednesday the next morning we started out around Bagdad Jct. in Lincoln Co. and worked our way east to Wilbur hitting many back roads looking for raptors. Not much as far as falcons, but many (12+) Rough-legged Hawks and lots of Snow Buntings. We noted at least two different races of Horned Larks. One flock was totally colorful with lots of yellow and no Snow Buntings were hanging out with this race, while the plainer looking race of Horned Larks usually had Snow Buntings with them. Wasn't sure what the deal was here as I hadn't heard much about Horned Lark behavior by subspecies. On our way west on Hwy. 2 dropping down to Banks Lake a gray Gyrfalcon was shooting through the air like a bullet. We tried to refind the Gyr, but never did see it again. Going north along Banks Lake which was iced over along the edges we didn't find much until we checked the log booms in Electric City for gulls where most were Herring Gulls with 1 Thayer's Gull. Going west from Grand Coulee was a lone Prairie Falcon in Douglas Co. hunting from the top of the large rocks which are scattered in the fields. Back in Bridgeport were 2 Merlins, a large flock of Bohemian Waxwings, lots of Tree Sparrows and 1 White Pelican at Bridgeport Bar, with 1 Eurasian Wigeon on the way to Brewster, but still in Douglas Co. Just north of Rocky Reach Dam were two Wild Turkeys heading up one of the ravines. And at sundown and to finish the year off we spotted a Merlin and Eurasian Wigeon in Wenatchee.

New Years Day Marv and I hit Snohomish and Skagit Counties. In Skagit County the Gyrfalcon was close to the west 90 where we also noted a large flock of Goldfinches and more Short-eared Owls making a total of 8 Short-eareds for the day. In Snohomish County along Boe Road there was a Slate-colored Fox Sparrow and again found Ryan Shaws Slate-colored Fox Sparrow and White-throated Sparrow on the corner of Miller and Norman Roads.

Friday morning we headed up the gorge into Skamania County thinking the heavy snow cover would help us find more and indeed it did as everything that wanted to eat was along the edges of the roads where there was open bare ground. First stopped in at St. Cloud Rec. area where we first found Meadowlarks flying west down the river and noted many other times through out the day that they were on the move. Skamania Landing produced an American Pipit and Tundra Swans which weren't on Franz Lake. At Hamilton Island we spotted a lone Common Loon working the Oregon Shore line and a Western Gull which is quite rare for this part of the state. In Klickitat County we dipped on the Lesser Goldfinches and Acorn Woodpecker, but really liked seeing the Lewis's Woodpeckers flying in the snow which made the pink super bright. Heading west from the Acorn Woodpecker spot we found two (Myrtle's) Yellow-rumped Warblers along with a Hermit Thrush.

Saturday our last day we birded Cowlitz and Wahkiakum Counties first starting at Woodland which produced 4 Least Sandpipers, 5 Great Egrets, 2 Snipe, a Merlin and a Cooper's Hawk and the best bird at the entrance to Lyon's Park was California Quail which is super rare anywhere in the county. At Julia Butler Hansen NWR we began with the Black Phoebe at the headquarters where we spotted a Northern Shrike also. We saw approx. 8 White-tailed Kites, 1 Eurasian Wigeon, and a Northern Pygmy-Owl made our day when we stopped for noisy chickadees. The owl might have been 12 feet over Marv's head. We couldn't find the Gray Jays, but found another Hermit Thrush while looking for the Jays. We missed hearing the Sora, but had a Virginia Rail instead just past the Yellow Barn.

Ken Knittle, Vancouver, WA
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