> Gina Sheridan, Greg Gordon, and I went out to follow up on the Lacrosse (Withman County) Snowy Owl report. We left Spokane under heavy fog, which cleared as we entered into Whitman County. Temps. ranged from 31 in Spokane up to just about 40 in Washtucna. The first good bird of the day was a MERLIN on a power pole near the town of Spangle in a wide open area much more known for Kestrel and Prairie Falcon. We moved into Whitman County toward and after extensive searching of the airport road and vicinity South of Lacrosse, we did not find any Snowy Owls or Gyrfalcon, are other target bird for the day. We did pick up quite a few other raptors including an imm. BALD EAGLE. Also of note near Lacrosse, a very large single flock of 34 COLLARED DOVES bunched up in a Poplar stand. On a good-looking stretch of the Palouse River near the Adams County line, we encountered a couple of NORTHER SHRIKES, Common Mergansers, Mallards, Geese, and 2 KILLDEER on the ice edge of the River, apparently attempting to over winter.
>
> Bassett Park was birdy for winter with 25 species of birds, notably SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, VARIED THRUSH, SPOTTED TOWHEE. The highlight birds were 2 COMMON REDPOLLS that flew in close to us along with 3 Goldfinches. 2 more KILLDEER were hanging out on the edge of the frozen sewage ponds. On the way toward Sprague Lake we came upon many more Raptors including a good number of Rough-legged Hawks and Kestrels. Of interest on a ranch on Wellsandt Rd. were 7 WESTERN MEADOWLARKS that also seemed to be over-wintering. By Sprague Lake a PRAIRIE FALCON cooperated for excellent views. On the day our total raptor count was:
>
> 1 Bald Eagle
> 7 Northern Harrier
> 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
> 10 (approx.) Unidentified Buteo sp.
> 31 Red-tailed Hawk
> 14 Rough-legged Hawk
> 14 Kestrel
> 1 Merlin
> 1 Prairie Falcon
>
> Good birding, Jon
>
> Jonathan B. Isacoff
> Chair, Environmental Studies
> Associate Professor, Political Science
> Gonzaga University, Box 52
> Spokane, WA 99258-0052
> isacoff at gonzaga.edu