Hi All,

I was down on Puget Island for the long weekend and was able to spend
Sunday morning birding Julia Hansen Butler NWR east of Cathlamat, WA. I
was short on time so I kept to the road that circles the refuge. Some of
the more notable sightings were.

2 White tailed kites: I watched these two hunting in the field near the
purple martin gourds along the main channel of the Columbia for about 10
minutes before they flew off towards the north. One of them dive bombed
a Northern Harrier that was sitting in a small tree. The Harrier flew
off casually and went on hunting on the other side of the field. Later
in the morning I was driving around Puget Island and saw another pair
hunting high above a pasture on the south end of the island.

There was also an all white goose with a large flock of Canada Geese.
It matched their size and plumage except being all white. It had a pink
beak and feet. It did not look like a domestic goose. It was in a cut
pasture on the north side of the refuge.

I did not keep track of numbers but here are the other birds I was able
to identify: Common Yellowthroat, Wilson's Warbler, Chestnut backed
chickadee, Brown Creeper, Cedar Waxwing, American Robin, Song Sparrow,
Savannah Sparrow, Belted Kingfisher, Pied billed Grebe, Wood Duck,
Mallard, American Goldfinch, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow,
American Kestrel, Red-tailed hawk, Northern Harrier, Osprey, Scrub Jay,
Stellar's Jay, Common Raven, Common or NW Crow, Wilson's snipe, Great
Blue Heron, Red- Winged Blackbird.

Dan Walker
Seattle, Washington
Maito:dan-walker at hotmail.com