On Monday (September 17, 2012), I rendezvoued with non-birder friends from Tri-Cities at Hatton Rest Area (Adams County). Within ten minutes, I tallied VARIED THRUSH, HERMIT THRUSH, WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH,and ?DARK-EYED JUNCO. There were more birds in there, but I simply didn't have time to search any further.

After my wedding on September 10th, my husband Dennis and I honeymooned for four days Banff & Jasper National Parks in Alberta, Canada. The weather was mostly sunny and lovely, and the Icefields Parkway was a stunningly beautiful drive. Our birding efforts were rather low key and bird numbers and diversity was quite low at those latitudes, altitudes, and season.?

Ironically, we only had on sighting of any chickadee species, and that was a pair of unusually cooperative BOREAL CHICKADEEs in Jasper N.P The sole woodpecker species was fortunately an AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER (lifer for Dennis) in a burn. We also saw a MERLIN, SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, WILSON'S WARBLER, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, and NASHVILLE WARBLER among the only 30 species for the trip.

Mammals included Big-horned Sheep, Mt. Goat, Least Chipmunk, Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel, Pika, Red Squirrel, White-tailed Deer, Elk ( with a magnificent bull elk that was bugling to his harem).

i writing this from Jefferson City, MO (en route to my new home in Delaware), and wanted to say that I will miss all of my friends and the fine birders in the Evergreen State.

May all of you find happiness in successfully twitch your target birds in the future!

All my best,

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA