Tweeters,

It has been suggested that my report last week of Spruce Grouse in Mansfield may have been a misidentification of California Quail. This report supports the quail theory, which appears far more likely than Spruce Grouse.

Steve Compton
Greenville,SC
---- Hans-Joachim Feddern <thefedderns at gmail.com> wrote:
> Here are some additional notes from my trip to Mansfield on my
> successful NORTHERN HAWK OWL quest yesterday, Wednesday February18th.
> To start the day of right at first light, I had a VARIED THRUSH, SONG
> SPARROW and DARK-EYED JUNCO in my backyard. It was foggy along I- 90
> and Snoqualmie Pass turned out to be bare and WET and 30 degrees, not
> dry as promised. This raised the question of possible icy road
> conditions and the wisdom of going on this trip. The fog really came
> down to the deck on the east side around Cle Elum at 29 degrees - now
> maybe this was the freezing fog the weatherman had talked about? It
> started breaking up, but closed back in at the Columbia River Gorge.
> I had a female AMERICAN KESTREL and a WESTERN MEADOWLARK on the
> telephone wire along Rt.281 heading north to Quincy. After spotting
> two large and strangely compact rafts of hundreds of AMERICAN COOTS
> north of Wenatchee at Turtle Rock along Rt. 2/97 on the Columbia
> River, I doubled back to Turtle Back Road and found a good spot to
> have my sandwiches and scope the river. In addition to the Coots, I
> found two COMMON LOONS, a number of HORNED GREBES, RUDDY DUCKS,
> GREATER SCAUP, BUFFLEHEAD, CANVASBACK and COMMON GOLDENEYES on the
> river. A BALD EAGLE, BELTED KINGFISHER and GREAT BLUE HERON were
> keeping an eye on the action.
> Heading up on Rt. 2 , I had a single STELLER'S JAY roadside in the
> mountains on the way to Waterville. Once I came out onto the
> Waterville Plateau, I was amazed at the amount of snow, even though
> all the roads were dry. - East of Douglas, I watched two beautiful
> male NORTHERN HARRIERS having a minor territorial dispute over the
> hunting rights over the snow scape. I turned north on Rt.172 and
> immediately had several ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS either on poles, flying or
> hovering. The trip total was 10 for the day with two handsome dark
> morphs. HORNED LARKS along Rt. 172 became more numerous and I had
> brief views of a flock of SNOW BUNTINGS, but a passing car spooked
> them.
> After successfully locating the NORTHERN HAWK OWL at B and 15th as I
> reported yesterday, I went back into Mansfield. Coming from the west,
> I turned south at the very first street on the right and directly
> across from the school. A flock of sparrows in a hedge made me stop,
> hoping for something unusual - sparrow or finch. It turned out to be a
> rather large group of ordinary HOUSE SPARROWS. Considering that I am
> hard pressed these days to even locate the three remaining sparrows in
> my Federal Way neighborhood, it was an interesting find. The presence
> of a grain elevator in Mansfield may have something to do with it!
> Next thing I noticed a CALIFORNIA QUAIL underneath the hedge, and
> another, and another! It appears that the resident there has a major
> feeding operation going and I guessed at least 60 or more Quail in
> the backyard with more flying in from down the street all the time. A
> pine tree in the same yard held at least a dozen EUROPEAN COLLARED
> DOVES preening and likely there were more. There also were a few
> EUROPEAN STARLINGS. The only RED-TAILED HAWK I saw in the Mansfield
> area launched from the top of the old grain elevator, showing of its
> beautiful tail.
> On the way home in the late afternoon, heading south on Rt.17 towards
> Coulee City, the fog closed back in at 34 degrees. Following a trucker
> in the fog made things quite interesting. Visibility improved at Dry
> Falls State Park and I was able to pass the semi. Below Sun Lake SP,
> I had a bird fly by, which looked like a LEWIS WOODPECKER, however
> with no place to pull over and my trucker friend barreling down my
> tail, I had no way to identify it. I am not sure if it is a winter
> bird in Eastern Washington?
>
> Good Birding!
>
> Hans Feddern
> Twin Lakes - Federal Way
> 253-874-0896
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