This comes a little late, unfortunately, but for those of you unfamiliar
with the area NE of Ephrata, it might provide an introduction. I spent the
week assisting with a census of Pygmy Rabbits on Dept. of Fish & Wildlife
land, recently transferred from DNR (A3, p. 68, DeLorme Atlas). There are
no signs designating the area since DF&W doesn't want to draw crowds &
increase human (as opposed to cow) disturbance. The area can be reached
from Ephrata via Sagebrush Flat Road or from US 2 on Rimrock Road (formerly
Moses Coulee Rd.) I spent evenings in my camper, parked off of Jameson
Lake Rd., just to the north of US 2.

Sagebrush Flat is one of the few places with a population of Pygmy Rabbits
in Washington. The rabbit is listed as Endangered by the State and in
Candidate Category 2 by the US F&WS. Although we saw a few active burrows
we saw no rabbits; the population appears to be at a 10 year low. The
biome is shrub-steppe, described by R. Daubenmire (1970. Steppe Vegetation
in Washington. Wa. Agri. Exp. Sta. Tech. Bull. 62. 131pp.) and by Franklin
& Dyrness (1988. Natural Vegetation of Oregon and Washington. Ore. State
Univ. Press.) (Anyone interested in bird
habitat, as opposed to just birds, should have a copy of the latter work.
Species names are in latin only but there's an english/latin cheat sheet in
the back.)

Different sections of the area have been affected variously by cattle
grazing, fire, drought, wheat farming and erosion. Nonetheless it
supports a good poulation of birds, mammals, etc. Although it was early in
the year, (it snowed lightly the day I left) some birds were on territory
including: SAGE THRASHER, HORNED LARK, RAVENS, NORTHERN HARRIER, VESPER
SPARROW, SAVANNAH SPARROW, SAGE SPARROWS, and WESTERN MEADOWLARKS. Seen
also were RED-TAILED HAWK, KESTREL, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, AMERICAN ROBIN,
RING-BILLED GULL, and SAGE GROUSE.

Jameson Lake is bordered by rimrock on the east & west. The gravel road
leads to Jack's Resort, which was closed at the time. There were a few
RUDDY DUCK, many RINGED-NECK DUCK, MALLARDS, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, BUFFLEHEAD,
AMERICAN WIGEON, BARROW'S GOLDENEYE, COMMON GOLDENEYE, many LESSER SCAUP,
CANADA GOOSE, COMMON MERGANSER, HOODED MERGANSER, PRAIRIE FALCON, SAGE
THRASHER, WESTERN MEADOWLARK, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, and VIOLET-GREEN
SWALLOW.

Comet HAYAKUTAKE was awesome on the night of the 25th; the head the size of
the moon with a long, very visible tail.

Herb Curl

h.curl at hazmat.noaa.gov "You may be only young once but you can be
Hazmat/NOAA, 7600 Sand Pt. Wy., NE immature the rest of your life."
Seattle, WA 98115-0070
(206) 526-6272