Tonight marked a fitting end to a weekend full of birds. As I was outside
a few minutes ago I heard a familiar screeching overhead - the distinct
cry of a BARN OWL flying over my neighborhood in Tacoma's north end. This
is only the second owl species that Natalie and I have heard from our
yard (we heard a Western Screech-Owl a few years ago) and the third
species we have noted in our neighborhood.

We started the weekend by leading a field trip yesterday to the Skagit
River delta with 12 members of Tahoma Audubon. After getting off to a
late start, we managed to find 57 species in two counties after touring
through the valley from Silvana in the south to Samish Island in the
north. Weather conditions were not optimal, as dark skies, intermittent
rain and wind dominated the weather for the day. There were still some
highlights, including a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW (tan striped race) at the
Skagit Wildlife Area on Fir Island, a pair of NORTHERN SHRIKES - one
juvenile at the Skagit Wildlife Area and a mature shrike viewed from the
wildlife area access off Maupin Road, and two large flocks of SNOW GEESE.

My personal highlight of yesterday happened at the West 90 along Samish
Island Road. As we kept scanning the wildlife area in vain for Short-
eared Owls - which we never did find - we noticed a mixed flock of
shorebirds flying overhead. A PEREGRINE FALCON was in hot pursuit, and
after it decided against attacking one flock it veered left and
accelerated. Then it slammed into a bird in a smaller flock of shorebirds
- BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS as far as we could tell. It was a perfect example
of the sheer speed of a peregrine - the same kind of hunting display I
watch every day from my workplace in downtown Tacoma where another
peregrine hunts from the top of the clock tower on the Old City Hall building.

Happy birding!

--
Rob McNair-Huff ---------- Tacoma, WA
Author of Birding Washington (Falcon Publishing, 2004)
and Insider's Guide to the Olympic Peninsula (Globe Pequot, 2001)
White Rabbit Publishing ---- http://www.whiterabbits.com
Mac Net Journal ---------- http://www.macnetjournal.com
The Equinox Project ------ http://www.whiterabbits.com/weblog.html