I birded most of yesterday Feb 2 and today Feb 3,
looking for the Whopper Swan, as did many others. No
luck. The areas around Conway NSE and W of the
intersection with I5 were thoroughly searched from 7
or 7:30am today. I am sure each swan present was
scoped at least 20 times!

Yesterday afternoon I looked for the swan with Ryan
Merrill. We finally took a break in the afternoon,
went to the game refuge on Fir Island (off Wiley?).
There Ryan found 3 White-throated Sparrows, one
American Tree Sparrow (terrific looks!), 1 Lincoln's
amid 100 sparrows (crowned and song) and juncos. As it
got dark Ryan found a Great-horned Owl. We also found
a Rough-legged Hawk on fir island right as we started
out on the west side of I5 mid-day, but I foget
exactly where, I think on Dike. I any event i did not
see it again today. We also saw 3 American Kestrels
yesteray (none today).

My only interesting swan-break was today about 1pm. I
found 2 or 3 small flocks of swans up toward the hills
about as far as they could go in farmland on the east
side of I5, north of the Conway exit. At Stackpole and
a private lane called Kanako, right where the road
curves, I found a Red-breasted Sapsucker and 2
Golden-crowned Kinglets. There is a confir in the
front yard of the house at the curve that is full of
sapsucker holes. A flock of Western Meadowlarks was
nearby.

Good luck to everyone looking for the Whooper! please
keep the great reports for those of us still looking.

thanks,

Kris Olson, Menlo Park CA