Saturday, January 31, 1998 Black Butte Lake - about a dozen Altacalers awoke to a gray, but apparently dry day, so we headed out to Orland to meet for the day's trip to Black Butte Lake. By the time we all gathered it had started drizzling, but we decided to go ahead since we had all taken the trouble to get up and get there. We started by heading up to the dam; along the way we saw a few roosting Bald Eagles, as well as some typical area birds such as Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons. From the dam itself, we saw several Western Grebes, and a few Double-Crested Cormorants. We then headed around the west side of the lake, where we saw some Pintails and Mallards out on the lake, and got good looks at Say's Phoebes and Rock Wrens working the shoreline. Across the lake several Herring Gulls were visible, and we got a few good looks at a few smaller Bonaparte's Gulls as well. Heading on, we slowed to look at every Kestrel (and there were quite a lot of them!) until finally we happened upon a female Merlin fanning her tail for us. We also got great views of a Rough-Legged Hawk, and of the Mountain Bluebirds which can often be found here in the winter, as well as a few looks at the Lewis's Woodpeckers that frequent the area. We lunched at the Big Oak Nature Trail, but didn't actually get out and hike, as that area tends to be a bit muddy even when it's not actually raining! We ended up by the bridge at the South end of the lake, where we picked up Phainopepla, Belted Kingfisher, and another immature Bald Eagle. The total species count for the trip was 49 species, not too bad considering the weather. - Skip Augur