Hi Tweeters,

I took a group of people through Lower Crab Creek and north to I-90 today
and found between 4000 and 5000 Sandhill Cranes along Lower Crab Creek. They
were just east of where the Lower Crab Creek Road turns north to go to
Highway 26, spread out for over a mile along the creek. We witnessed a very
impressive fly-in of cranes and got pretty good looks at them, though the
heat waves made viewing a little less than desirable. There were also about
75 cranes beside the pond on the south side of Highway 26 just west of the
Adams/Grant county line.

Other sightings of note were six Black-necked Stilts and one Dunlin. Two
stilts were on a small pond on the north side of Highway 26 about three
miles east of Royal City and four were at the pond on the north side of
Highway 26 just west of the Adams/Grant county line. The Dunlin was on a
pond on the east side of Dodson Road about three and a half miles south of
I-90. According to Appendix 4 in "Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest" by
Dennis Paulson, the earliest date of Spring migration in the interior of the
Northwest for Black-necked Stilt is April 5 and for Dunlin also April 5 but
with isolated records before April 5. I was surprised that we didn't see
any American Avocet inspite of migration records being much earlier than for
the stilts.

Also of interest were two Caspian Terns on the same pond as the Dunlin and
twenty Western Sandpipers on the north pond at the Adams/Grant county line.

I was surprised to see seven Turkey Vulture circling over 32nd Ave. and
Chestnut in Yakima just up the street from my house as we were returning
home. They were close enough to get them on my neighborhood list.

Denny Granstrand
Yakima, WA