Ron Friesz and I ventured into Douglas County today. Although foggy
conditions covered much of the Waterville Plateau which still has plenty of
white on the ground, we noticed that larger flocks of Horned Larks were
mostly lacking, with very few groups of more than 6 birds. Rick Hendrick
and Meredith caught up to us a Bridgeport Bar right after she found the
bluebirds, and Rick spotted the Harris's Sparrow there. No Snow Buntings
until nearly 4 pm when we took SR172 from Sims Corner to Heritage Road, and
only one then. A couple of good finds were a NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL around 2 pm
about a mile up Central Ferry Canyon from the Columbia River, perched in a
tall poplar. The other was 2 male and 2 female WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS in
Mansfield, first seen a block from Cemetery Road and 15 minutes later at the
east end of town. Both sightings included a male perched at the top of a
spruce tree. We looked at a whole bunch of spruce trees today (there are
many times more out there than we checked), and crossbills will probably
turn up in a few more spots before this winter is over.

Randy Hill
Othello

-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of
merdave at homenetnw.net
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 3:46 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] Think Spring!


Hi, fellow birders! It wasn't bright and sunny here in Douglas County
today, but it seemed "spring-like" because on Bridgeport Bar (Shrable
Corner) I saw 7 Western Bluebirds, and one (male) Mt. Bluebird!!! What
more could you ask for?

Sorry, the N. Hawk Owl, Snowy Owl and Yellow-billed Loon (at Lake Chelan)
have not been seen in at least the last 2 days, longer for the Hawk Owl.

I do LOVE Bluebirds, esp. male, Mt. Bluebirds, and he was very close to
me. Our ground may be white, but spring is coming. Meredith Spencer,
Bridgeport, Wash.

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