Hi Everyone,

The changing of the guard to winter species added three species to my yard list total for 2008, to bring it up to 61. On October 1st, I heard a GREAT HORNED OWL calling. We used to have this species as a regular, including periodic night visits to fir trees in our backyard, but they disappeared for two years - hopefully this/these will stay around. On October 4th, a flock of GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE flew over in the dark, and a sizable flock was found the next day in the neighborhood. This morning, for only the second time in the six seasons we've been in this house, I had a tan-striped WHITE-THROATED SPARROW show up briefly among the juncos and song sparrows.

John Tubbs
Snoqualmie, WA
johntubbs at comcast.net
www.tubbsphoto.com