Tweeters:

Anne Winskie and I were at Graysmarsh yesterday and while numbers for many
birds (ducks, divers, various passerines) were on the low side, but a couple
hot rarities provided encouragement. Once again, the weather worked out for
the count effort. Although Bob Boekelheide will come in with a more
complete report, our preliminary count is 142 species, with all major
territories having reported in. This is right in-line with our 10-year
average.

At Graysmarsh, we were a bit below average for species (84) and the
following were low:

N. Pintail lowest ever, Mallard, Am Wigeon, Com Goldeneye, Bufflehead
low gull numbers overall
Song, Lincoln's and Fox Sparrows were on the low side, ditto Spotted Towhee
misses on Am Bittern, YR Warbler, and (ouch) Swamp Sparrow (seen Dec 17
only, first miss in 13 years)

Rarities and highlights were as follows:

Trumpeter Swan 7
PRAIRIE FALCON 1 CW (underwing coverts not seen because of low fly-away
angle, but all other details seen; Dec 17 in dunes at public beach access,
but not on count day)
Sora 1 (answered tape)
Rhinocerous Auklet 1
Band-tailed Pigeon 12 (rare in winter)
3 owl species including Short-eared Owl 1
BARN SWALLOW 2 (over the marsh in the afternoon, third straight time for
CBC, despite daytime temps 28-41 F!)
Cedar Waxwing 1 (rare in winter)
White-throated Sparrow 2

The most spectacular rarity, however, was a BURROWING OWL that I nearly ran
over. I was leaving Graysmarsh in the direction of Port Williams SP, near
Schmuck Rd, when this long-legged, meadowlark-sized owl was suddenly
directly in the headlights--and standing right on Port Williams Road
itself!! The owl flew off southward into the plowed pastureland west of
Schmuck Rd. Taken together with single W. Screech and N. Pygmy in the
uplands of Palo Alto Rd, it was nothing less than a 6-owl day (and the CBC
as a whole had a whopping 8 owl species). The Dungeness Spit driftwood long
ago produced a previous CBC Burrowing Owl (Gene Hunn; this was our other
8-owl year), and we had a second sighting (count-week only) out there the
following year.

Other highlights from the CBC:

YB Loon 7 (ties all-time CBC high from Bellingham long ago), Red Phalarope,
THICK-BILLED MURRE as reported by Charlie Wright's post earlier today for
the boat party

REDHEAD 2, Canvasback--Kitchen Dick Rd ponds
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK 2 (parties near Hogback Rd, Sequim Bay; rare in Clallam
Co)
Marbled Godwit (number unknown, Dungeness Spit)
HEERMANN'S GULL 1 (w. Sequim Bay; several had lingered late into Nov)
PINE GROSBEAK (following regional trend, 2 parties found birds in uplands:
Palo Alto/Louella, and Woods Rd)

Scott Atkinson
Lake Stevens
mail to: scottratkinson at hotmail.com

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