I?ll play ! I?ve only got 2 of the ?top 12? [WW Crossbill & Swamp Sparrow], but would love to come across any of those others ?

For potential county firsts a few more come to mind to add to Ken?s top 12 and make it an 'even' 25:
> 1. Anna's Hummingbird
> 2. Pectoral Sandpiper
> 3. Snowy Owl
> 4. Thayer's Gull
> 5. Dunlin
> 6. Black-bellied Plover
> 7. Purple Finch
> 8. American Redstart
> 9. Trumpeter Swan
> 10. Long-billed Curlew
> 11. Broad-winged Hawk
12. Great-tailed Grackle

13. Sandhill Crane - flying over some day, in migration
14. Least Flycatcher - should be there breeding somewhere
15. Clay-colored Sparrow - ditto
16. Stilt Sandpiper - fall migration , maybe Rice Bar HMU or along Snake
17. Wilson?s Phalarope - spring surprise
18. Parasitic Jaeger - October on Snake
19. Lesser Black-backed Gull - this winter, along Snake
20. Pacific Loon - fall on Snake
21. White-faced Ibis - Rice Bar, in one of the irruption years
22. California Scrub-Jay - Pomeroy
23. Ovenbird - somewhere up in the Blues singing in June
24. Red Knot - someday in the mud along the Snake
25. Black-throated Sparrow - in one of their bigger years

Now just to go get em!

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA
> On Jan 7, 2017, at 7:40 AM, washingtonbirder.Ken Knittle <washingtonbirder at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> I know that Garfield County is the toughest county in Washington State to bird. So that made me wonder what are the top dozen birds that are on the Garfield County checklist. Picking the top dozen will be different probably for each birder that looks the list over. I would hope birders would be curious and try to come up with their choices of top dozen. Here's my choices:
> 1. Long-billed Murrelet-----I rated this number 1.
> 2. Black Swift
> 3. Hermit Warbler
> 4. Dipper-----a few of us have worked on this one without success
> 5. Bushtit
> 6. White-winged Crossbill
> 7. Boreal Owl
> 8. Gyrfalcon
> 9. Swamp Sparrow
> 10. Sora
> 11. Green-tailed Towhee
> 12. Northern Mockingbird
>
> Some of these I've seen, but this is how I think is the top 12.
>
> Then to change the game I went through the list of what hasn't been seen in Garfield Co. of what might be the most likely top 12 to be added to the county list. I had to compare the Garfield list with the Washington State list. Here's my predictions starting with #1 being the most likely.
> 1. Anna's Hummingbird
> 2. Pectoral Sandpiper
> 3. Snowy Owl
> 4. Thayer's Gull
> 5. Dunlin
> 6. Black-bellied Plover
> 7. Purple Finch
> 8. American Redstart
> 9. Trumpeter Swan
> 10. Long-billed Curlew
> 11. Broad-winged Hawk
> 12. Great-tailed Grackle
>
> Remember where Garfield County is and there is only 248 species on the list. I would be interested if anyone else has ideas. Would like your response either on Tweeters or private email.
>
>
> Ken Knittle
> Vancouver WA 98665
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