Hi Tweeters,

I led a Yakima Valley Audubon trip to Grays Harbor County this weekend.
The trip was delayed a day because of the storm. The car my wife and I
were following on Hwy 12 just west of the White Pass summit did a 540
degree (1 1/4 turns) spin in the middle of the highway. He stopped
broadside to traffic but didn't get hit.

We had great luck at all of our stops in Ocean Shores on Sunday. Monday
was wet with fewer birds. Where did the big flocks of Marbled Godwits at
Westport and Tokeland go? The only two we found were at Bottle Beach. We
made a good search for the McKay's Bunting but, like everyone else lately,
dipped.

I have a photo of the Emperor Goose at the Ocean Shores Golf Course with
its right foot stretched out. It is missing one toe. I talked to Ken
Taylor, who lives north of Selah and has a big collection of exotic
waterfowl, who said they (keepers of exotic waterfowl) are required by law
to clip of toe off each of their birds. So it appears that the Emperor
Goose might be an escapee. Ken also noticed a spot on the bird's head near
the bill that he thought looked like it had been damaged when the goose
flew into a wire fence. I had a difficult time telling what he was talking
about. Ken said he would call some keepers of birds he knows in western
Washington and in B. C. to see if they have lost an Emperor Goose.

I placed many photos from the weekend in the new photos folder on my
website, including many of the eleven Snowy Owls we saw on Damon Point.
They were spectacular! There seemed to be hundreds of people viewing the
owls. Occasionally someone would get too close and an owl would fly a
short distance. I think the disturbance was minimal considering what an
impact seeing these wonderful birds had on so many people who probably were
not birders. The experience might cause a few of them to start birding but
all of them will probably have a more healthy respect for birds and the
environment.

You can see my photos in the new photos folder on my website:

http://www.granstrand.net/gallery/newphotos

Denny Granstrand


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Denny Granstrand
Yakima, WA
dgranstrand AT gmail.com
Denny Granstrand's bird photos can be seen at:

www.granstrand.net/gallery/
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