Yakkers,

I spent 30 minutes on Lewandowski Road north of Sunnyside on SR-241 at the entrance to Sulphur Creek Ranch. My target was Ferruginous Hawk. Well, I did not manage the hawk here, but I did see a Burrowing Owl on the fenceline. a couple hundred feet to the north. It has been quite a number of years since I've seen this species here, so I was quite pleased. They still hang on hereabouts!

Still thinking Ferruginous Hawk, I drove north on SR-241 a few miles, to the northernmost house with trees. There's a nice pulloff there with a mailbox. I scanned the grasslands to the east and soon found a Ferruginous Hawk hunting the fields. It perched on the ground quite a bit so was easy to miss.

Two species vanishing from the Yakima County scene in one hour!

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA
steppie at nwinfo.net

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