Subject: Arid Lands Ecology Reserve and the WOS Conference
Date: May 9 08:45:28 1997
From: steppie at wolfenet.com - steppie at wolfenet.com


At the Washington Ornithological Society convention held in the Tri-Cities
in south-central Washington (May 1-4), trips to various good birding areas
in the Columbia Basin were held, including: Saddle Mountain National
Wildlife Refuge, the Wahluke Wildlife area, the Walla Walla River delta, and
sites farther afield, such as Rock Creek and Bickleton. Field trips on two
different days were scheduled to the off-limits Arid Lands Ecology Reserve
(ALE) on the Hanford Site. It was the first chance to visit this reserve for
most WOS participants, including myself.

I was astounded! Essentially the ALE encompasses the entire north slope of
Rattlesnake Mountain and includes a elevational spread from about 500' to
nearly 4,000'. Habitats range from distubed cheatgrass/rabbitbrush and weedy
plants at lower elevations to vast areas of beautiful bluebunch wheatgrass
and threetip sagebrush at higher levels. In the drainages which come off
this north slope, several riparian corridors have developed. Here and there
are basalt outcrops and cliff areas.

There is no doubt in my mind the ALE includes the finest bluebunch
wheatgrass (Washington's state grass) grassland remaining in Washington. It
probably is the most important single site for Grasshopper Sparrows, a local
and declining species in the Columbia Basin. We encountered this species at
nearly every stop in appropriate habitat. Other sparrows are very common
here: especially the Vesper and probably the Lark, though it appeared this
species was just making its way into the area, as it is a late migrant (for
a sparrow). In areas with sagebrush, the Sage Sparrow was common. Most
participants got very good looks at this species. Less common, though still
present, were Brewer's Sparrows. Habitat for Sage Thrashers is limited, but
we did note this species. Of course, Horned Larks and Western Meadowlarks
were very common. Of the shrub-steppe birds, Loggerhead Shrike was seen well
also, making the list of the commonly-occurring passerines of the
shrub-steppe zone virtually complete.

At lower elevations in the disturbed, weedy habitats, Long-billed Curlew was
easily seen, along with several herds of elk, which are resident on the ALE
and Hanford Site.

In the riparian drainages such as Snively Gulch and Rattlesnake Springs,
migrants were a real treat. Several Lewis' Woodpeckers were noted, a very
uncommon species in this part of the Columbia Basin. Another notable
observation was that of a Brown Creeper in Snively Gulch on May 3. Empidonax
flycatchers such as Hammond's and Dusky Flycatchers were evident, plus the
Western Kingbird which has been present for several weeks. Ruby-crowned
Kinglets were common, but Golden-crowns were scarce. One Townsend's
Solitaire was seen at Rattlesnake Spring. Hermit Thrushes were noted in
Snively Gulch. Solitary and Warbling Vireos were common on the trip on May
2, but scarce on the trip on May 4, this was true for migrant warblers too.
Migrant warblers seen included: Orange-crowned, Nashville, Yellow (scarce),
and Yellow-rumped (Audubon's and Myrtles). Migrant Western Tanagers,
Chipping Sparrow, Lincoln's, Golden-crowned, and White-crowned Sparrows were
common, but juncos were scarce, seen only once in Snively Gulch on May 3.
Spotted Towhees and Bullock's Orioles round out the list of migrants.

Noteworthy to me regarding migrants was the fact these birds were almost
absent at valley bottom elevations on trips during the period of the
convention. Fifty-five observers on the Saddle Mountain Refuge on May 2
found only Yellow-rumped Warblers in the lower elevations of that refuge. No
other obvious migrants were seen in the lush willow and cottonwood habitats
in that area. During those same hours, Bill LaFramboise, leading the ALE
trip, observed many migrant flycatchers, vireos and warblers in Snively
Gulch and Rattlesnake Springs on the ALE. Thus, many (most?) migrants are
thus moving above the basin on either their spring and fall movements. Higer
elevation riparian areas intercept many of these migrants. Inclement
weather, which usually happens at least several times during either the
spring or fall migration, "grounds" these migrants. That's probably when we
see concentrations at valley-bottom elevations.

I have documented the abundance of migrants of many species at higher
elevation riparian areas on numerous occasions on the nearby Yakima Training
Center. Noting the obvious difference in bird species diversity and
abundance on the Saddle Mountain Refuge as compared to Bill's count on the
ALE site during the same hours, only reaffirms my thoughts on migration of
passerines in this region.

Overhead, we spotted a migrant Sharp-shinned Hawk. More common, however,
were Swainson's and Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrels, and Prairie
Falcons. We watched a very high-flying Ferruginous Hawk sailing high over
the crest of Rattlesnake Mountain, but had much better looks at this rare
hawk on power poles on the Hanford Site while on the way to the ALE site.

Birds of the cliffs and rocky environment included: Prairie Falcon, Chukar,
Rock Wren, and Common Raven.

As with other participants, I want to also thank Bill and Nancy LaFramboise
for their wonderful organizational skills and care which made this
convention a great success.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato, WA