Hello All,

I took a day off (1/23, Mon) from the perpetual rainy-day occupation of
home maint tasks, and went up north to Cowlitz / Lewis / Thurston
cos. Beautiful day, the water-logged & flooded areas had largely dried up
by then. Maybe this new rain starting last nite / this morning (1/25) will
fill in some more muddy areas later on. We are not exactly getting parched
yet, however, it may be that our string of 37 (or was it 38?) consecutive
days of measurable rainfall (some of it *quite* measureable) has been
interrupted, altho briefly. A few birding highlites follow.

Cowlitz co:
Swamp Spar, corner of SR411 and Casey Rd, 3.0 miles S of Lewis co line;
could reach by going W on SR506 (Vader exit) from I-5, then S on SR411, or,
from S by going N 5.5 miles along SR411 from the Four Corners intersection
in Castle Rock (exit 49 from I-5).

Lewis / Thurston co:
Saw the Prairie Falcon, on snag in Lewis co., then flying N into Thurston,
location as reported by Paul Hicks, Sullivans, et al. Thanks to you people
for posting!
Saw the spectacular Red-sh Hk, first in Thurston co., then flying into
Lewis co., calling frequently that day, perhaps enjoying the sunshine as
much as I was, maybe even more, as it has no car or house (that I know of)
to get back into when rains return. Thanks on this one to George Gerdts,
Marv Breece, the Sullivans, and others.
Saw a first year Glaucous Gull with a rowdy crowd of about 150+ pink-legged
'big' gulls, in the lucsious farm mud of Goodrich Rd., Lewis co., also as
reported by the Sullivans and others (I am presuming this to be the same
bird seen earlier this winter by them). These were the only ponds of note
besides the big pond out west of the Sewage Treatment Plant, west end of
this same rd., with 2 male Redheads still present, some RN Ducks, over 200
GW TEals, plus other puddle-duck spp., a good collection. Thanks on this
to Dave Hayden, Ken Knittle, the Sullivans, and others.
Another lucky bird was a single Gray Jay, on Michigan Rd., in deciduous
trees near a farm about halfway between Prather Rd & Independence Rd (DL:
45, B-8), Thurston co.
Many other ponds in this area, including Lincoln Cr and Bunker Cr rds., as
described by Sullivans, all or mostly dried up, so shorebirds, even
Killdeer, were totally absent, as far as what I saw during my day of
crusing in the sunshine.
Missed on the Pacific co SR6 / Francis Turkey, as reported by Ken K., will
return someday to check on these fowl birds. THis is perhaps a county
first? Not on my 2003-vintage copy of the Knittle WA Birder list
anyhow. Better watch for the grouse spp while we can, eh?

It was a fine & sunny day.

Alan Richards / Naselle WA 98638