Hi tweets,

Wendy and I headed over Snoqualmie Pass on Sunday AM to see what
we could see.

Highlights on an extremely windy day were a dark-morph Roughlegged Hawk
along hwy 10 east of Cle Elum, GH Owl along 97 NW of Ellensburg, Prairie
Falcon near Hungry Junction Rd. north of Ellensburg, and a flock of more
than 100 Gray-crowned Rosy-finches along Huntzinger Rd south of Wanapum Dam.
Just at dusk they were whirling in flocks of 15 or more to seek shelter in
the cliffs where Cliff Swallows nest in the spring. During the half-hour
that we observed, flock after flock would land on the cliff-face, forage for
a bit and then creep into tiny crevices to roost through the night. As time
went on, more often than not a bird would try to get into an already
occupied crevice. Then a fight would break out. Usually the occupant would
drive the interloper off, but sometimes they would tumble down the cliff
face in a tangle of beaks, claws, and feathers until the victor would fly
back to the disputed crevice and get ready to defend its space. We watched
until the cold forced us to seek our roost in the van where we could crank
up the heater.



Good birding, Alan Roedell, roedell at speakeasy.net 206-522-0809