I did not go far enough out Reeser Creek to see the Owl but I did locate
the Swans. I have posted some of my photos.
http://www.pbase.com/idiot4cricket/inbox
The photos labeled Left, Right and Middle are tighter cropped versions
of the photo of all three. I defer to other experts the identification
job. I simply submit the photos.

Cricket Webb
birdnerd at inlandwireless.com
Cle Elum WA.


On 12/16/12 3:52 PM, Scott Downes wrote:
>
> Just returned home from a wonderful day of birding. Saw Walter's post
> as well on the update. It is a young bird, it is also probably a male
> but am not willing to fully call it that. I've placed a heavily
> cropped photo on my Flickr page:
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/52299853 at N08/
> As you can see in the photo, the bird has extensive barring on the
> breast. I agree with Walter that the bib is extensive. Holt in his
> recent paper commented that bib is usually reliable, but in extreme
> cases females can also have an extensive bib. From what I saw of the
> tail, it looked to be minimally streaked which would point towards
> male. Based on these traits, I'd say it was a young male, though it
> might possibly be a young female. Would love to hear others opinion on
> sex of the bird.
> The swans found by Phil Mattocks and Steve Hall yesterday on the CBC
> were present on what is now a frozen pond on Bender Road just east of
> intersection with Reecer Creek. There was some confusion yesterday
> over the identify of a third bird. Based upon the looks I got this
> morning just after first light, there were 1 Trumpeter Swan and 2
> Tundra Swans. I called the third bird a Tundra based on small size
> (same size as other Tundra next to it), shorter bill than the
> Trumpeter, some yellow in front of eye and shorter dish shaped bill
> than the Trumpeter.
> More on the Teanaway Redpolls-- this morning I located three flocks of
> Common Redpolls on North Fork Teanaway Road between MP 7 and 11. For
> those not familiar with area, take HWY 970 east from Cle Elum, turn
> left onto Teanaway Rd. In a few miles this forks into West Fork (left)
> and North Fork. Stay on the North Fork. The redpoll flock with the
> Hoary was about 1/4 mile north of this intersection, coming down to
> the road to feed on road grit.
> In addition to the larger flock of about 150 birds than contained the
> Hoary Redpoll, the other flocks were much more flighty and each
> contained 50-60 birds. I was able to search the flock near MP 11
> thoroughly and determine they were all Common Redpoll. The other
> flock, closer to MP 10 flew quickly upon initial discovery and
> couldn't find the birds again when I came back down the road. I viewed
> the Hoary Redpoll off and on for about 15 minutes-totaling about 2
> minutes of actual observation time. The birds wouldn't allow for
> approach closer than about 50 yards, so photos weren't possible. I
> tried to call the Hoary closer by playing it's call. This was more on
> a lark as the two calls are fairly similar and it was unlikely that
> the Hoary would respond. As I figured, three birds did come much
> closer but they were all male Commons. I'll submit further details to
> Ebird and the WBRC. Brief details are that it is a male, so very pale
> pink breast and only upper breast. The bird has a single slim streak
> on the undertail coverts (visible if you can get it zoomed in) and it
> can also be picked out by quite a bit of white in the secondaries and
> coverts.
> I did call a couple of people known to be in the area and that area
> will be covered tomorrow on the CBC, so perhaps it will be refound. As
> I said in my earlier email, it took me 40 minutes to find the bird, so
> patience is probably needed in a flock this size.
> Scott Downes
> downess at charter.net <mailto:downess at charter.net>
> Yakima WA
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