>From Russell Rogers, Seattle WA, rrogers at halcyon.com

The Seattle Audubon trip to the Sage Grouse lek on the Yakima Firing
Range, as always, produced many Sage Grouse. As Niel Fergusson said in a
earlier posting, we had, 14-15 males and several females. This years trip
when to a lek that I had never been to before. The viewing distance was
much closer than any of the previous years trips that I have done. We also
were alowed to stay at the lek much long than in prevous trips. The best
look at a Sage Grouse, however, came on the way out the the lek. While it
was still dark as we were driving along the dirt roads of the firing
range, a lone male was displaying right in the middle of the road, in full
view of our head lights no more than about 50 feet away. Quite a sight in
the dim morning light, as Dr. Seuss would say.

I alway look forward to this trip each year, because it my first real
spring birding trip of the year. The flowers in the basin are starting to
come open, and the sage brush starts to turn the most beautiful color of
gray-green there is. I spent the day before, March 17th, birding with
David Buckley. We vistied several spots that procuded several spring
arrivals. Quilomene WRA, near Vantage had Sage Sparrows, Vesper Sparrows,
Mountain Bluebirds, Rock Wren (not a spring arrival, but fun to watch any
how) and single Sage Thrasher. Frenchman's Coulee area had Violet-green
Swallows, White-throated Swifts, Virgina Rails, along with singing Marsh
and Canyon Wrens. We saw Burrowing Owls at the George exit and along
Dodson Road. We also saw a Long-billed Curlew there. At Wapato, we saw a
Merlin, witch Andy Stepniewski told me were very uncommon in the spring
int the Yakima valley.

The next day, after we left the firing range, we stopped again at Wapato.
At a gas station next to the highway we saw a Band-tailed Pigeon. I did
not need Andy to tell me that it was a uncommon sight this time.
Band-tails are a rare sight anywhere in eastern Washington. After looking
at the Pigeon, we went to Lewindowski Road, near Sunnyside. As usual, the
Ferruginous Hawks were tending to there nest. We were not sure if there
were eggs on the nest or if they were repairing the nest. In my oppinion,
Furruginous Hawks are about the finest birds invented by nature. They If
any of you have never had the good fortune to see these birds, reconmend
that you drop what you are doing, grab your binculars, kick the cat, jump
in your car and go see these things! Now!

After Sunnyside were worked our way up to Whitebluffs area of Grant County
along highway 24. Here we saw a Golden Eagle with the most remarkable
adult plumage that I have ever seen on a North American Golden Eagle. Its
nape was very blonde, reminding me of the Golden Eagles that I saw in
Europe and the Middle East. The weekend was a good weekend for Raptors, in
all was saw Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Sharpe-shinned Hawk, Cooper's
Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Golden Eagle,
American Kestrel, Merlin, and Prairie Falcon. Not to shabby I thought.

We stoped by Dodson Road on our way back and found three owls. We found
the Burrowing Owls by the nest hole, and we flushed a Great Horned Owl and
a Long-eared Owl out of the Russian Olives. In the pools next to the road
we found a very early Lesser Yellowlegs.

After that we worked our way home where I slept for 12 hours that night.


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Russell Rogers
4510 Glenn Way SW
Seattle, WA 98116
(206) 935-6280
rrogers at halcyon.com
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