This morning I got up to sun slanting in under a light dusting of snow falling, coming in from the north at our place on the bench above Aeneas Valley in the Okanogan. It was dead quiet accept for the faint but clear songs of meadowlarks to either side. Then four Common Redpolls zipped by overhead, a life bird for me.

On the way back to Vashon, there were several Northern Shrike and American Kestrels along the Aeneas Valley and over the Colville Plateau. Two swans, to far away for identification from Hwy 20, were at ponds between Tonasket and Omak. Eleven more swans were at Dulley Lake with a wide variety of ducks. These swans, too, were a bit distant for a certain identification, but at least two appeared to be Trumpeter Swans.

Ed Swan
Vashon Island