I spent a little time up in the hills around Elma this weekend. I noticed several flocks of Evening Grosbeaks flying around. I also have had a flock of them in my neighborhood the past couple days. On Saturday morning, at Vance Creek county park there were very sizable groups of Starlings and swallows. The swallow group was all perched on the utility lines when I first noticed them. The swallows numbered close to 250 birds with most of them being Violet-green.

Just a note about my favorite Mountain Quail area that lies just north of Elma. The logging road that I have had most of my sightings is now being used as the main entrance/exit road for an active logging operation. It has been yellow dotted by Weyerhauseur so its now weekend access only. I'm sure the quail are still up there, but locating them may be much more difficult now.

Tim O'Brien
Elma, WA
mailto: kertim7179 at yahoo.com


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