Yesterday (01.21.06) I birded in a few western Washington counties with Mark Ahlness and Janeanne Houston. We started the day with a stop just west of the intersection of Haxton and Kwina on the Lummi Indian Reservation in Whatcom county. Michael Fleming had told me a while back that he had seen a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW at this location. The bird (or another) showed up for us yesterday. This was a tan striped individual. We also had a slate-colored DARK EYED JUNCO among the other juncos and sparrows. The field held a fine assortment of raptors, including a HARLAN'S RED-TAILED HAWK. Earlier, we had spotted a MERLIN near the corner of Slater and Haxton.

It took a bit of searching, but we were fortunate to locate 7 SNOW BUNTINGS on the dike. The birds were quite tame. As we stood watching them, they approached us within 12 feet. No luck with Snowy Owls on the dike.

It was a target kind of day, so we headed for the Keystone Ferry (Whidbey Island) in hopes of viewing the ANCIENT MURRELET show. 100 birds is quite a conservative estimate, because as Dennis Paulson posted yesterday, ANCIENT MURRELETS were everywhere. One group contained 20 birds. The ferry went directly through them, scattering the birds and providing superb viewing of these little guys from our elevated position on the ferry deck. We also enjoyed fine comparisons with MARBLED MURRELETS.

We made a stop at Freeland Park on Whidbey at 4:30, while there was still plenty of light to see birds, but no sparrows were to be found.

It was a good day.

Marv Breece
Seattle, WA