American Crow: When I first moved to the Seattle area in 1988 I regularly
went to the Pike Place Market early on Saturday mornings. One day in late
August I got my produce, some flowers, and a couple of donuts and sat down
at the north end of the market to rest and have a snack. Very few people
were around and as I sat there I kept hearing this weird voice say "That's
bullsh*t". I looked around and looked around and finally saw that what from
the voice print I suspected was some poor alcoholic sprawled under the
bushes was actually a crow jumping around the small patch of grass. I gave
him a piece of donut for the performance. I always listened for that bird
again but this was the only time I ever encountered him.

American Dipper: Ouzel's are fairly common on medium sized creeks in the
Sierra Foothills in the wintertime. Always fun to watch them bobbing up and
down and disappearing under the water. When I first pointed these birds out
to my baby sister (16 years my junior) not understanding the name she
instead dubbed them "scuba" birds (my dad was a diver) and she calls them
that to this day.

Rob Conway
Newcastle, WA

robin_birder at hotmail.com