During our family vacation to the Wenatchee area, Evan and I went for a raptor count in Douglas County on Sunday -- numbers were very low, but we got very lucky with a gray-phase GYRFALCON on the Palisades-Waterville loop road. First I saw a RED-TAILED HAWK had a CHUKAR on a power pole, then dropped it as we drove up. The Gyr came streaming in from the side and tried to take it, but the Chukar managed to hide under the sagebrush. The Gyrfalcon perched on a nearby sprinklerhead. Then it became a waiting game, with the Chukar finally making a break for it across the road. This gave Evan some great shots with his camera, and he will be posting these along with some pretty decent ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK photos later today to SurfBirds.com.

Lee Cain
Astoria, Or