Hi, folks,

Just wandered back to Olympia after having wandered across the northern =
portion of our State. As usual, I started my vacation by running a =
Breeding Bird Survey route from Cow Lake, about 10miles east of =
Ritzville in Adams County, north past the railroad siding/grain elevator =
at Keystone (that's all that's there...), north across Crab Creek and =
the route fizzles out in the wheat lands about 3.5 miles south of =
Harrington in Lincoln Co. Most of the route goes through either wheat =
land, or - where the soils are obviously too shallow - grazing land. =
Many of the stops are adjacent to Conservation Reserve Program plantings =
- a great program to 'retire' highly erodable land from wheat production =
(I suppose Newt and the GOP Congress has killed the CRP in any Farm Bill =
legislation...) The CRP lands have been in grass - not farmed, grazed =
or burned for about 10 years now, and are *full* of sparrows and =
meadowlarks. The wheat lands tend to be full of horned larks....

The protocol for the BBS routes is that you start at 4:26 a.m. (1/2-hour =
before sunrise), listen/watch and record every bird heard and seen for 3 =
minutes, jump in the car, drive for 1/2 mile, then do another 3-minute =
count. Repeat this madness for 50 stops. Thought that some of you =
might be interested in what I saw at the stops - birds seen in-between =
don't count (and didn't get recorded...) I ran this route a couple =
weeks ago, so it is a bit dated, but I've been away from computers, =
telephones, work, etc. =20

Keystone BBS, Adams/Lincoln County
10 June 1996
=09
Started out at 4:26 a.m. with light breeze and 40 degrees F., ended with =
8-12 mph wind and 61 degrees F at 8:53 a.m. Light clouds at daybreak =
burned off early to a sunny morning. The Palouse winds were not as =
strong or steady as in some other years I've run the route - wind =
obviously reduces the numbers of birds that might be up and singing of a =
morning.

Pied-billed Grebe: 1 at 1 stop
White Pelican: 11 at 2 stops
Am. Bittern 1 at 1 stop
Black-cr Night Heron: 3 at 1 stop
Canada Goose: 5 at 3 stops
Mallard: 5 at 3 stops
Shoveller: 1 at 1 stop
Redhead: 2 at 1 stop
N. Harrier: 8 at 7 stops
Swainson's Hawk: 5 at 4 stops
Red-tailed Hawk: 13 at 12 stops
Am. Kestrel: 7 at 6 stops
Gray Partridge: 1 at 1 stop
Ring-necked Pheasant 14 at 12 stops
Coot 2 at 2 stops
Killdeer 7 at 3 stops
Spotted Sandpiper 2 at 2 stops
Long-billed Curlew 1 at 1 stop
Ring-billed Gull 111 at 22 stops
Calif Gull 4 at 2 stops
Caspian Tern 2 at 1 stop (Is there a colony around here?)
Rock Dove 9 at 3 stops
Mourning Dove 6 at 6 stops
Short-eared Owl 2 at 2 stops
Common Nighthawk 4 at 3 stops
Willow Flycatcher 1 at 1 stop
Say's Phoebe 2 at 1 stop
Western Kingbird 17 at 9 stops
Eastern Kingbird 3 at 2 stops
Horned Lark 111 at 34 stops
Rough-winged Swallow 1 at 1 stop
Cliff Swallow 105 at 14 stops
Barn Swallow 28 at 9 stops
Magpie 5 at 4 stops
Crow 2 at 2 stops
Raven 2 at 2 stops
Robin 8 at 7 stops
Sage Thrasher 1 at 1 stop
Starling 69 at 7 stops
Brewer's Sparrow 2 at 1 stop
Vesper Sparrow 31 at 17 stops
Savannah Sparrow 102 at 28 stops
Grasshopper Sparrow 27 at 19 stops
Red-winged Blackbird 33 at 9 stops
Yellow-headed Blackbird 36 at 4 stops
Brewer's Blackbird 40 at 10 stops
W Meadowlark 117 at 36 stops
Brown-headed Cowbird 33 at 17 stops
Am. Goldfinch 2 at 1 stop
House Sparrow 5 at 3 stops

Total: 50 species

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net