I stopped by Lacamas Park on Saturday to see if the Tufted Duck was
still there. It was and I have to say this is the best look I have ever
had of this species. This location is easy to get to and the duck is
associating with a few Ring-necked Ducks making it easy to pick out.
Since the side pond (to Round Lake) is so narrow, the ducks are never
far from the shore. This is in stark contrast to the usual viewing of
this species, which for me anyway, is usually at some distance in a huge
flock of scaup. The white sides of the Tufted stand out well compared
to the gray sides of the Ring-necks.

Yesterday, I took advantage of the "nice" day (snowing on highway 30)
and headed out to Ilwaco to see if the Yellow-billed loon was still
there. It was (aren't cooperative birds nice) and I was able to get
incredible views of this bird in the brief sun from the shore and from
the docks in the boat basin. You have to be a bit careful though, since
there is a very light billed Common Loon in the same area. I stopped
by Sauvie Island on the way home. The Harris' Sparrow was at the
Rentenaar Road site. It came out to some seed near "the" apple tree.
Between this spot and the other seed spot (blackberry hedgerow with the
small building), I saw all four Zonotrichia sparrows (three
White-throated) along with Lincoln's, Song, Sooty Fox sparrows, juncos
and Spotted Towhees, all making for quite a sparrow display late in the
afternoon. The Harris' was very late in showing up. I watched the area
from about 3 pm to 6:30 and it didn't show up until about 5:30.

A few photos of the duck, loon and sparrow are at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/redpoll_6/

Gary Fredricks
Washougal, WA