OREGON & WASHINGTON 
gon has 12 prior records from widely scat- 
tered dates. 
A wintering flock of 50 Tricolored Black- 
birds remained at Othello through about 10 
Apr (DS), and breeding colonies in Whitman 
and Grant were active 15 Apr-i-; this species 
first appeared in s.-cen. Washington in 2003. 
Two newly discovered colonies nw. of 
Prineville, Crook both contained about 150 
Tricoloreds 1 May (CG), while the historic 
colony at nearby O’Neil was down to about 20 
ads. this season (CG). The Region’s largest 
colony, at Malin, Klamath, held about 350 in- 
dividuals 16 Apr (D. Stein). Both of the sea- 
son’s Common Crackles were in Harney: one 
at Malheur 26 May (AC), the other was near 
Borax L., n. of Fields 30 May (TR). All but 2 
of the 13 Great-tailed Crackles were in Ore- 
gon, where this species is increasingly expect- 
ed May-Jul; these included a maximum of 3 
in Burns 23 May-n (RHo, m.ob.). In e. Wash- 
ington, a seven-year returnee was back at Lib- 
erty L., Spokane 7 Apr (TO), while another 
Great-tailed at Sprague L., Lincoln 17 May was 
just 7th of this species to reach Washington 
(ph. 0. Oliver, G. Oliver). A regionally rare 
Bullock’s Oriole x Baltimore Oriole hybrid 
brightened Lyon Ferry Park, Franklin 24 May 
(TSM, RM, CW, TB). 
Two Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches on Sad- 
dle Mt., Clatsop 17 May (A&CH) and one on 
Marys Peak 31 May 0- Fairchild) were in the 
Coast Range, where they do not breed. A few 
Pine Grosbeaks from last winter’s irruption 
lingered in the westside lowlands, including 3 
at Wedekind, Grays Harbor 1 Mar (BT) and 3 
at Nisqually 11 Mar (BS). On the eastside. 
they continued at several non-traditional sites 
into Apr. High numbers persisted at upslope 
locales throughout the period, with flocks of 
20-50 reported from several areas. Two 
Cassin’s Finches strayed to w. Oregon, where 
they are rare but annual; singles inhabited De- 
troit, Marion 20 Mar (P. Sullivan) and Port- 
land 20 Apr (SF). White-winged Crossbills 
appeared at multiple sites in the lowlands of 
w. Washington; a maximum of 5 was counted 
near Olympia 14 Mar (R. Sullivan), and 2 
reached the outer coast at Ocean City, Grays 
Harbor 2 Apr (R. Hill). Scattered White- 
winged Crossbills remained at lowland sites 
in e. Washington through the period. One at 
Joseph, Wallowa 12 May was the only bird 
found in ne. Oregon during late spring. A pair 
of Pine Siskins building a nest at Washtucna, 
Adams 24 May (SM, DS) was entirely unex- 
pected; this small town is surrounded on all 
sides by miles of treeless wheat helds. Ex- 
panding Lesser Goldfinches continued to 
move in a northeasterly direction; singles ex- 
plored Yakima 21 Mar (DG) and Bridgeport, 
Douglas 4 May (MS). Five Lesser Goldfinches 
in Clark suggests that they are recolonizing 
that county after disappearing in 1991. Addi- 
tional evidence of Lessers expanding north- 
ward was highlighted by one near Olympia 
16-18 Apr (D. Catterson, ph. KB), a female at 
RN.E 7 May (VN) and a male there on 17 May 
(VN), and one near Snoqualmie, King 25 May 
(E. Hunn). 
Initialed observers (subregional editors in 
boldface): Jim Alt, Knute Andersson, Tom 
Aversa (Washington), David Bailey, Gary 
Bletsch, Justin Bosler, Keith Brady, Joel Brady- 
Power, Marv Breece, Tayler Brooks, Kathy 
Castelein, Alan Contreras, Craig Corder 
(Spokane), Bob Derting, Steve Dowlan, Scott 
Downes, Daniel Farrar, Shawneen Finnegan, 
Andy Frank, Bob Flores, Chuck Gates 
(Croob), Joel Geier,Jeff Gilligan, Greg Gillson 
(Washington, The Bird Guide Pelagics), Den- 
ny Grandstrand (Yakima), Jim Hein, Hendrik 
Herlyn, Randy Hill, Adrian & Christopher 
Hinkle, Michael Hobbs, Wayne Hoffman, 
Rich Hoyer, Tim Janzen, Stuart Johnston 
(Hood River, Klickitat), Ken Knittle, Bill 6r 
Nancy LaFramboise (Lower Columbia 
Basin), Dave Lauten, Terry Little, Peter Low, 
Maitreya, Larry McQueen, Ryan Merrill, 
Craig & Marilyn Miller (Deschutes, Jeffer- 
son), Steve Mlodinow, Russ Namitz, Harry 
Nehls (Oregon), Steve Nord, Tim O’Brien, 
Mike Patterson (Clatsop), Dennis Paulson, 
Diane Pettey, Roger Robb, W. Douglas Robin- 
son (Benton, Polk), Tim Rodenkirk (Coos, 
Curry), Em Scattaregia, Owen Schmidt, Bill 
Shelmerdine, Tim Shelmerdine, David Smith, 
Kevin Spencer (Klamath), Meredith Spencer, 
Andy Stepniewski, Ellen Stepniewski, Noah 
Strycker, Julie Van Moorhem, Terry J. Wahl, 
Jay Withgott, Michael Woodruff, Charlie 
Wright. Cr 
David Irons, 2125 Hayes Street 
Eugene, Oregon 97045 (llsdirons@msn.com) 
Douglas Schonewald, 1535 South Skyline Drive 
Moses Lake, Washington 98837 (dschone8@donobi.net) 
Brad Waggoner, 7865 Fletcher Bay Road N.E. 
Bainbridge Island, Washington 98110 
(wagtail@sounddsl.com) 
Northern California 
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Ed Pandolhno 
A long the coast, conditions were cool 
and dry from March into May. Strong 
winds generated considerable up- 
welling and cold sea surface temperatures, 
conditions accompanied by high marine pro- 
ductivity and krill abundance. However, 
some seabirds suffered from a severe food 
shortage, highlighted by high mortality and 
breeding failure of Brandt’s Cormorants. 
Coastal winds died down in mid-May, and 
the second half of May was calm and hot, re- 
sulting in unproductive ocean conditions that 
affected the breeding success of gulls and 
Common Murres. Conditions were unusually 
hot inland, with early “summer” thunder- 
storms east of the Sierra Nevada in late May. 
Significant finds this season included three 
species of Pterodroma, a Zone-tailed Hawk, 
the Region’s first confirmed Gull-billed Tern, 
the first Magnificent Hummingbird x Anna’s 
Hummingbird hybrid reported anywhere, 
and a very late Snow Bunting. 
With very heavy hearts, we report the re- 
cent death of Luke Cole, killed in an automo- 
bile accident in Uganda on 6 June 2009 at just 
46 years of age. Luke was a Regional Editor 
for 15 seasons and a subregional editor for 
Kings County for over a decade. Luke 
achieved a great deal in the field of environ- 
VOLUME 63 (2009) • NUMBER 3 
497 
