It was cold, temperatures in high 20s, with light snow most of the day for
the ELWAS CBC. There was 1-2" of snow in most areas which made for a
beautiful landscape. Thirty-seven people signed up which may be a record. We
covered seven different areas and ended with 89 species which is second only
to the 92 species of last year. We had many species with high count totals.
The snow and cold weather resulted in Varied Thrush being everywhere with a
total of 287 birds. The previous high was 110 in 1987. Killdeer were also
numerous with 203 birds compared to 111 in 1987. There were 33 Bald Eagles
reported compared to previous high of 16 in 1997. Brown Creepers were also
prevalent. We had 29, previous high was 13 in 2001. There were high counts
for most of the sparrows. It is interesting that many of the previous highs
occurred in 1987 which only had a species total of 68. The remaining high
counts with previous high in ( ) were as follows: Chestnut-backed Chickadee
79 (77), American Dipper 4 (3), Anna's Hummingbird 4 (3), Steller's Jay 88
(73), Dark-eyed Junco 502 (409), Merlin 3 (1), Common Raven 13 (4), Lincoln'
s Sparrow 10 (9), Fox Sparrow 39 (33), Golden Sparrows 89 (67),
White-crowned Sparrows 84 (34),Spotted Towhee 141 (94), Hairy Woodpecker 10
(8). We also did have some low totals: Rock Pigeon (Rock Dove) 104 (previous
low was 197), Common Goldeneye 6 (11), Ring-billed Gull 25 (32), Lesser
Scaup 7 (8) and we had the second lowest total of European Starlings with
778 compared to 546 in 1990. There were also 3 Solitary Sandpipers in the
Phantom L/Cougar area count. A good description was provided and photos were
taken. After the photos are developed we may be able to confirm or deny this
report. If anyone would like a detailed list or summary of the past 16 years
you can email me privately.

Hugh Jennings
Bellevue, WA
hughbirder at bigzoo.net