With the recent messages about eastide shorbirds, thoughts of visiting the
Rearden ponds are sure to begin soon. However, on my 8/16 (Wed) visit there
the ponds were still nearly full with very limited amounts of shoreline
available to host shorebirds. A total of 5 individual birds were found, 1
Spotty, 1 Greater YL, and 3 Westerns. Likewise, most of the pothole lakes
on the Coleville Plateau are too full for shorebirds with the water in them
still being well up into shoreline vegetation. The ephemeral Atkins lake, 7
miles west of Coulee Dam on Hwy 2, is beginning to show some good shoreline.
This lake produced Bairds, Western, Least Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs as
well as moving Chipping, Vesper, and Savannah Sparrows in the brushy edges.

For this weekend, I would guest that the best shorebirding will probably
continue to be found at the Walla Walla and Yakima River deltas (depending
there on daily variable water levels controlled by the Corps!) and the
"County Line Ponds" on hwy 26 just west of the Grant/Adams county line.

Black Swifts were quite numerous along the west side of the Columbia River
between Brewster and Wenatchee yesterday, 8/18.

Scott Ray Washington Birder Newsletter
Yakima, WA PO Box 191
scray at wolfe.net Moxee, WA 98936