Hi everyone,



Well, this morning shows the benefit of always being on the lookout for birds, regardless of the conditions.? I took my old yellow Lab to Three Forks for a walk this morning and although having her along definitely reduces the number of birds seen, she won't be around too much longer so it's great to get out with her.? When we do these walks, I still take the binocs and a camera...just in case.? We started mid-morning, not the best start time either, the wind was blowing briskly (a drawback of our area in the winter) and the oxbow slough was still very muddy from the recent floodwaters.? And, as all those things would predict, it was very slow for birding.? However, heading back from the railroad trestle bridge to the dog area on the trail, I checked out the mainstem of the river, and there was an American Dipper working a small gravel bar slack area.? This was the first AMDI for Three Forks (well, at least on my list, maybe someone else has seen one there).? Not 200 yards later, I saw a bird sitting on the signpost near the entrance to the second field.? The profile looked like, and was, a Northern Shrike - another first for my list there.?



While neither of these species are unexpected for that habitat, they certainly wouldn't be considered common - and it was interesting that both happened within five minutes of each other on a very slow day.? You never know...





John Tubbs

Snoqualmie, WA

johntubbs at comcast.net