Now, for some relief from my posting on Dodson Road, I'll make note of some
interesting areas that I visited for the first time on 3 June. The Dodson
disappointment made me think that perhaps it was time for exploration
rather than visiting the same old places. After all, you have no
expectations when you explore, so you can't be disappointed.

The Baird Springs Road from Ephrata to Trinidad, on the north side of the
Beezley Hills, is scenic and has a fair assortment of sagebrush birds along
it. Right at Baird Springs there are enough trees for some riparian birds.
Side roads go off into more sagebrush. And when you look at the map you
realize there are little roads running all over the place into unknown
territory.

More interesting yet, I thought, are the surprisingly extensive grasslands
north and west of Moses Lake. It looks as if quite a few roads go through
the area, but we took one that goes off highway 17 between Moses Lake and
Ephrata. On the De Lorme Atlas, follow highway 17 out of Moses Lake, and
just northwest of the second "17" a dashed (gravel) road goes off to the
northeast, through the area northwest of Larson AFB (where the 747s play).
The road goes through mile after mile of open grassland, a peculiar amalgam
of plant species that make it difficult for me to understand the origin of
the habitat, but it's full of grassland birds anyway--lots of Long-billed
Curlews and Horned Larks and meadowlarks and at least a few Grasshopper
Sparrows. I had seen lots of Grasshopper Sparrows many years ago on the
road north of Moses Lake but had forgotten the potential.

I would try it early in the morning, when the sparrows are sitting on the
fence wires (we saw one at 2 p.m.). I wouldn't have been surprised to see
Gray Partridges or even Sharp-tailed Grouse. Open grassland, without a
shrub in sight, is a pretty unusual sight in Washington. I have no idea
who owns the land; it's west of the Gloyd Seeps Unit of the North Columbia
Basin Wildlife Area. You can continue east and eventually come out on the
Moses Lake-Stratford Road.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416