The Island County year list stands at a paltry 86 which is less an
indication of the bird life to be found here than an inability on my part
to wrest time off from my employer.
Now some Whidbey highlights: the Northern Mockingbird continues just east
of Coupeville....... Short-eared Owls are being seen in at least 3
locations..... On a windy evening I spotted a Common Barn Owl flying around
the landscape trees in front of the Coupeville Middle School in the manner
of a racing plane zooming around the pylons on a race course..... A pheasant
was on the softball field either playing a deep 3rd base or a shallow
leftfield..... I watched an adult Red-tailed Hawk make a long glide and
crash into the branches of a fir . An indignant Douglas Squirrel leaped from
the branches and landed on a neighboring tree where it scolded the hawk.
It?s the 1st time I?ve ever seen a buteo crash into branches in the manner
of an accipiter.... A flock of Western Bluebirds is on again off again along
Ebey?s Bluff.

Steve Ellis
Coupeville,Wa
sellis at coup.wednet.edu