On Thu, 24 Aug 1995, Tom Foote wrote:

> Dennis-
>
> Now we get to try and figure out what the heck these 330+ cliff swallows
> thought they were doing...the only thing we could speculate about, since
> they weren't eating anything, is maybe they were trying to stay warm with
> the blacktop road surface radiating the heat of the day..or maybe they
> were just schooling up for the trip south..or...or..

Tom,

I've no idea what these swallows were doing 'wallowing on the road down
from Hart Mountain, but I do know that they weren't sitting on the blacktop:
this road is not paved! The nearest blacktop is probably 12-15 (?) miles
away to the west over toward Plush.

The road down from the rim of Hart Mountain into the Warner Valley is
spectacular to view, has a great assemblage of native grasses and forbs,
and can be pretty good to view birds, too. Of course the Valley itself
is full of all sorts of Pleistocene-era lakes/marshes and their
associated birds.

You need to take a trip to the dry side one of these times, let the webs
between your toes dry out, and enjoy the birding... :-)

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, WA
anderjda at dfw.wa.gov