Dear Tweeters,
Yesterday, 22 November 2014, I went upriver, despite bad weather. Birding was slow, but there were a few good finds.?Along SR 20 near?the Swamp Creek pullout (milepost 153.9 or so), there was a Clark's Nutcracker eying a Common Raven that flew down the highway corridor, no doubt looking for carrion.
A Thunder Lake was a small flock of Buffleheads and two Hooded Mergansers. When I tried whistling like a Northern Pygmy Owl, out came three Grey Jays!
On the other hand, I spent some time at both the Hardy Burn gravel area and the Easy Pass trailhead, and found zero vertebrates there, although it was fun walking in a winter wonderland.
Today, 23 November 2014, I was surprised to find a PRAIRIE FALCON on Fir Island, in the fields by Jensen Access. Later, at the Game Range, I walked right up on an American Bittern, not eight yards from me. At dusk here, at least 250 American Robins and 30 Cedar Waxwings gathered near the boat-launch parking area. They took off together, just as a Great Horned Owl started hooting.
Yours truly,
Gary Bletsch