On Sun, 24 Aug 1997, Mark Egger wrote:

> In reviewing my photos of the habitat from 29 May 1983, when I observed a
> mated pair of Uplands E of Spokane near the ID border, it still looks like
> pretty nice prairie -- there were lots of native plants -- a few
> bunchgrasses, Sidalcea, Castilleja, Lupinus, Geum triflorum, etc.

I guess I should get out my draft Gap Analysis vegetation volume and try
to figure out how much of this habitat has been mapped and what its
geographic extent is. Upland Sandpipers have frequently
been found in association with lakes and wetlands: Stubblefield, Newman
and Hauser Lakes in Washington, Sycan Marsh in Oregon - even Bear and
Logan Valleys are apparently at least seasonally flooded basins. I am
wondering to what degree the sandpipers benefit from close proximity to
saturated soils. Even the Upland Sandpipers in the east Spokane Valley
were frequently seen in irrigated pasture and tame grass fields that were
irrigated. Perhaps the native prairie vegetation is important but equally
so the moister grass or sedge-dominated habitats (pure speculation).

I've toured some of the historic Upland Sandpiper habitats in Spokane County
and, other than the weed-infested east Spokane Valley site, I have a difficult
time understanding why the birds are not around anymore. What's wrong with
Indian Prairie? What's wrong with the historic nesting area around
Stubblefield Lake? It's on a National Wildlife Refuge. There are no
housing developments there.

In other parts of the Upland Sandpiper's range they live in the grassy
expanses of airports. In Colorado and some other states, they survive
in good numbers in croplands. One of the few states (of the lower 48)
where published information describes a native habitat is North Dakota
where the sandpipers live in the "prairie potholes" landscape.

I can only conclude that Upland Sandpipers in the Pacific Northwest exist in
marginal environmental conditions. Their numbers are always going to be
small at any given location and, therefore, they will always be vulnerable,
not only to human-caused habitat alterations but to stochastic events
including simple things like a series of bad years for nesting or
unusually high mortality during migration. Their breeding occurrence
in Spokane County may have as much to do with somewhat random historical
events as with the habitat conditions. In other words, some birds may have
settled there (in good habitat) a hundred or a thousand years ago and small
numbers persisted there until recently. It is my belief that other good
habitats exist out there and what we need are a few really good reproduction
and survival years in the core of the species' range to produce an abundance
of birds looking for new homes.

Maybe the source populations will have to be Yukon birds. We really
don't know about migration patterns and the likelihood that birds
hatched in North Dakota Birds might end up in Washington. But, they
need to settle here in Washington. Maybe the Grimes Lake birds liked
what they saw when they touched down during migration. We would love to
have them come back in spring and stay to nest. Maybe a different bird
will take a liking to the Lake Osoyoos area or the Horse Heaven hills.
How about Bunchgrass Meadows or Conboy Lake? Looking at their breeding
range, these places do not seem out-of-the-question and, given the variety
of habitats these birds will use, these places might just work.

I know, it all sounds overly hopeful. Call me Pollyanna (Who is Pollyanna?).

Kelly McAllister