Dear Tweeters,

I didn't realize at the time that BEWR is a scarce species in Ferry County, but there were at least two pairs along Swawilla Basin Road on 4-4-2011.

This road is the first left after you cross northwards on the Keller Ferry. The first pair was at a bend in the road, maybe a mile up, in a bunch of trees and brush to the north of the road, and before the roat tops out with a dirt road that goes off to the left onto some treeless terrain. Here were also a few BC Chickadees and a couple of Pygmy Nuthatches. There was a good-sized turnout on the right here.

The second pair of BEWR's was quite a few miles along the road, where a small stand of trees is on the right. Sorry for miserable directions--I was just blundering about. These birds were in some alders (aspens?) to the right of the road, where a little creek conceals a trough in some brush along the creek. This was just before the road goes left and drops down to a low stretch, before turning to dirt. On the other side of the road from the trees and trough was a bit of a cliffy bit, as I recall.

FArther along the road, at the steepest part of the dirt part of Swawilla Basin Road, near the west end, just below some dried mud ruts in the road that almost blocked my passage, a Vesper Sparrow was singing. I was barely able to drive my 2-wheel-drive car up this steep road. If it had been raining, it would have been a no-go.

On various stretches of Swawilla Basin Road were singing Horned Larks, an adult Bald Eagle, Say's Phoebes, and a flock of 16 Mountain Bluebirds.

I also have a question. At three different places in Ferry County, in varied habitats, I heard a loud, deep, one-syllable booming call. The first time I heard it was in the burn along Manila Creek Road. I also heard it on 4-4-2011 in the evening at Butler Flats (the one in Ferry County), and again today by a wetland/ranch habitat (the Hildebrant Tree Farm) just outside Republic, at about 0830. This sound is like a cross between Great Grey Owl, Flammulated Owl, a nighthawk booming, and a cow. No, it wasn't a cow! Two of the sites in question had no cows nearby! Plus, I have a pretty good idea what cows sound like. I reckon it was some odd mammal, rather than a bird. Any ideas?

Other fun observations on this eastside trip have been as follows:

A Varied Thrush at Washtucna today;

A Merlin at Southern Pacific Ponds outside of Cle Elum on 4-02-2011;

A White-headed Woodpecker at the Swauk Cemetary on 4-03-2011 (off Bassett Road by Swauk Prairie Road east of Cle Elum);

Williamson's Sapsucker on FR 9712 near the settlement of Liberty in Kittitas County on 4-03;

Single Northern Shrikes just north of Keller Ferry (Ferry Cty) and at Friedlander Meadows/Hell Gate Game Reserve (off Silver Creek Road);

A bull moose that ran in front of my car and floundered into some deep snow, between Sherman Pass and Karamip Road.

Yours truly,



Gary Bletsch

?Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA?garybletsch at yahoo.com?Mentre che li occhi per la fronda verde
ficcava ?o s? come far suole
chi dietro a li uccellin sua vita perde, lo pi? che padre mi dicea: ?Figliuole,
vienne oramai, ch? ?l tempo che n?? imposto
pi? utilmente compartir si vuole?.??