Since I can't seem to get enough of the Mansfield hawk owl, I joined Mike and Lynn Noel on a trip to the Waterville Plateau for their lifer. This wonderful bird was in its B Street spot the 2 times that we saw it today.



Unable to locate any ww crossbills in the cementary or anywhere else in Mansfield, we headed down to Bridgeport to find the yellow-billed loon. We had great scope views of this bird, even through the falling snow.



We returned to the Plateau via Central Ferry Canyon, which was, not surprisingly, very quiet but did give us another pass by the owl. Two other cars were there and the owl was perched on a fence with some people photographing it from close by in the field to the west. As we watched it at eye level from our car, it suddenly flew straight toward us and swooped upward at the last minute to perch on a utility pole directly above. Not wanting to disturb it further, we started the car and drove slowly down the road.



We still couldn't find crossbills in Mansfield and headed east on Hwy 173 where we came upon an immature gyrfalcon on a utility pole east of town. It was either hunting or a bit spooky. We got a good scope view before it flew out over the field and eventually lighted on a utility pole further down the road. We scoped it again and then moved closer. It soon flew across the road and lighted on a huge rock adjacent the road. Before we could get the scope on it again, it took off in a southeasterly direction low over the field and eventually out of sight.



We could not find any ww crossbills in any of the Douglas or Grant County spots where they've been seen. The other notable finding was that there were no snow buntings among the large numbers of horned lark flocks. It's only been a couple of weeks since there were pure flocks of snow buntings. Were they staging and now moved out?



Good birding, Kim



Kim Marie Thorburn, MD, MPH 509-465-3025 phone 509-465-4695 fax