On Saturday, April 5, Dave Swayne led a Seattle Aububon Society group to
the West Kittitas / Vantage / Crab Creek area in Eastern Washington. The
weather was very good, sunny and no clouds. 65 species noted.

Common Loon 1
Horned-Grebe 1
Great Blue Heron 2
Canada Geese 15
Wood Duck 2
Green-winged Teal 1
Mallard 15
Ring-necked Duck 2
Greater Scaup 10
Turkey Vulture 2
Bald Eagle 2
Northern Harrier 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 10
Rough-legged Hawk 2
American Kestrel 4
Merlin 2
Prairie Falcon 1
Ring-necked Pheasant 4
California Quail 6
American Coot 20
Killdeer 8
Long-billed Curlew 2
Common Snipe 10
Ring-billed Gull 10
Rock Dove 20
Mourning Dove 1
Great Horned Owl 3
Long-eared Owl 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Downy Wodopecker 4
Northern Flicker 6
Say's Phoebe 6
Horned Lark 2
Tree Swallw 20
Violet-green Swallow 10
Steller's Jay 3
Black-billed Magpie 10
American Crow 10
Common Raven 20
Black-capped Chickadee 4
American Dipper 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
Mountain Bluebird 10
Townsend's Solitaire 4
American Robin 250
Varied Thrush 3
Sage Thrasher 6
Cedar Waxwing 2
Loggerhead Shrike 1
European Starling 50
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Rufous-sided Towhee 3
Brewer's Sparrow 1
Sage Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 2
White-crowned Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco 6
Red-winged Blackbird 100
Western Meadowlark 25
Yellow-headed Blackbird 10
Brewer's Blackbird 6
House Finch 3
House Sparrow 10

An additional species of note was a long-tailed weasel at midday near the
Ellensburg Airport. Near dusk, a dwindling number of field trip participants
observed 2 CEDARD WAXWINGS. One person remained into dark and
was treated to a large number of owl observations at two Crab Creek sites.
Seen was an additional LONG-EARED OWL (and 2 more heard), 1
SHORT-EARED OWL, 1 NORTHEN SAW-WHET OWL (heard two
more), and 2 GREAT HORNED OWLS (both heard only).

Highlights of other miscellaneous observations:
stonefly
various desert plants:
tall sagebrush
sagebrush buttercup
hedgehog catcus (pediocactus simpsonii) with little buds about to bloom
prairie rocket (not a positive ID)
arrow-leaf balsamroot
sagebrush violet

It was a very enjoyable trip with great people.

Franny Drobny
Seattle, Washington
fdrobny at cairncross.com