I'm not aware of any small mammal studies at the W90, but it seems somebody
from WWU would have done something out there. That gyrfalcon did not leave
much behind on that perch.
Maybe someone will come up with a harrier-cam, or maybe a memory card that
can store images from the harrier brain. Long ago in a zoology class we set
20 live traps for small mammals on a field trip near Vantage; we had 19 deer
mice the next morning, and the 20th trap had been sprung but was empty.

Mary Klein asked about orca sightings; I saw a KIRO TV report yesterday
about orcas in Hood Canal, but I'm not sure where in the canal they got
their footage. It sounds like it would be worth keeping an eye out. On
Tuesday I was on a research boat from the ship canal to Tacoma, and the
birding was very slow; it was foggy, but most of the birds that I saw were
right in Shilshole Bay.

Regarding Rob's comments about birding and mushrooming, I know from
experience that it's hard to do both: look up and look down. While earnestly
hunting mushrooms I generally leave my binoculars in the car. And on that
topic of pure birders, I know a gammarid amphipod (sand flea) expert who is
dismayed by birds, saying that amphipods are much prettier to look at than
birds. He gets quite worked up by birders, wondering what all the fuss is
about when there are amphipods to look at.

Kevin Li
Ballard, USA