Tweeters,

I headed up Larch Mountain in Clark County this morning (accessed eastbound
on 139th Street which intersects with182nd Avenue south of the town of
Hockinson) and had to turn around short of my goal of reaching "migration
corner" since the snow was still piled up along the road especially along
the center crown. At about 8 a.m., I stopped just where the trees on the
south side of the road begin (or end) which is about .8 miles from the end
of the paved road and listened. I was surprised to hear the twittering of
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLs (apparently a first record for Clark County) and
caught a brief glimpse of them as they flew off. I wasn't able to see the
white wings but did listen to White-winged Crossbills calls on my i-phone
and they were a dead ringer for what I heard. I stayed in the area for
about 90 minutes and heard the same flock again - once. There are also
several RED CROSSBILLs in the area as well as a flock of EVENING GROSBEAKs.
The location is .8 miles beyond where the paved road ends (at the
intersection with the road that heads down to the prison) and then to about
150-200 yards beyond that. The road is ok to that point for a regular
vehicle but then the conditions quickly deteriorate. In addition to the
crossbills and grosbeaks, the only birds I saw or heard up there over 2
hours were Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-tailed Hawk, and Common Ravens.
Birds were few and far between.

Keep your eyes and ears skyward.

Happy Holidays to everyone and I hope great birding experiences grace the
New Year for you.

Jim
--
Jim Danzenbaker
Battle Ground, WA
360-702-9395
jdanzenbaker at gmail.com
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