On wed. 2/9 in the late afternoon I was driving toward Everett on the Lowell River Rd when I spotted a large raptor winging over Fields Riffle County Park (undeveloped) just outside of Snohomish. At first I just thought it another of the many Red-tails I'd seen that day, but there was something not quite right about its flight. So I pulled off the r oad just in time to get a quick but good look at my first Gyrfalcon. It was a fairly dark bird, a bit brownish, which I take is an immature bird. Sorry for the delayed report (computer problems) - actually 10 minutes later would've been delayed because at the speed it went overhead it could've been anywhere else in the lower Snohomish valley!

Continuing down the road I stopped by the first of the River Rd. ponds I came to because a Bittern was just landing in the cattails near the road. As I parked another Bittern flushed out nearby.
Across the pond a group of crows were hasseling another bird in the tree , which flew my way - a beautifull Peregrine Falcon, which seemed pretty small after seeing the Gyr.

Yesterday 2/10 I was driving down the River Rd again when another falcon zoomed across the road and into a maple tree. I doubled back to see a nice dark Merlin!


Jeff Gibson, Everett Wa