Tweeters,

On vacation this weekend I stopped by the Ankeny Hill Wildlife Refuge (south
of Salem, Oregon) Monday morning and was very pleased to see my first COMMON
SNIPE. There were two wading in front of the closest island of near the
main kiosk. In the same area there was a juvenile COOPERS HAWK, a male
HARRIER, and many PIED-BILLED GREBES. Also saw the usual GREAT BLUE HERON,
CANADA GEESE, MALLARDS, and RING-BILLED GULL.

On the south boardwalk trail I enjoyed watching two female DOWNY WOODPECKERS
fight over a snag, and farther down a male flew over. I sat on a bench in
the middle of the trail under the trees for about an hour and counted 10
CHICKADEES, 1 BROWN CREEPER, several unidentified FLYCATCHERS, (although I
watched long enough to memorize about five field marks!), and a VIREO,
likely a Hutton's.

Two young white tail deer were standing in the trail on the way home. It
was a beautiful morning!

Anne Kizerian
Tri-Cities (Kennewick), WA
mail to:birdcrazykizerian at earthlink.net