Rain, rain, rain!!!!!!!!! Will S.W. Wash. ever see the warm sun
again????????.
.........Well, Klamath basin was anything but sunny last week......cold
and cloudy. But the birds didn't seem to mind!!! For the sake of brevity
and ellimination of duplicate sightings, birds of Tule Lake NWR and
Lower Klamath NWR will be listed together. So-o-o-o-o-o, here goes:

Eared Grebes(many)
Clarks Grebes
Western Grebes(many)
Wilson's Phalaropes (4 pairs)
White-fronted Geese( a very large flock)
White-faced Ibis(though I was told that many were nesting, I only
actually saw 1!!!)
Brewers Blackbirds
Red-winged Blackbirds(birds of central Calif. and a few in this area had
only 'red' on their wings, but most had both 'red' and 'yellow')
West. Sandpipers
Calif. Quail
Rufuus-sided Towhee
Savannah Sparrows
Wesrern Bluebirds
House Sparrows
Lincoln's Sparrows
Both White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows
Barn Swallows
Cliff Swallows(many at Tule Lake)
Stellers Jays
Canyon Wren ( Like the Cliff Swallows--residents of Sheepy Ridge
cliffs behind visitor center)
Horned Owl and 1 owlet( in a nest on cliffs of Sheepy Ridge)
Northern Oriole
Long-billed Dowitchers(9)
Say's Phoebes
Forster's Terns
Caspian Terns
Gadwalls
Red-headed Ducks
D-Crested Cormorants
Lesser Scaups
Am. Avocets(plentiful)
Black-necked Stilts (plentiful)
Long-billed Curlew
Yellow-headed Blackbirds
White Pelicans(many----Saw sevweal large grass nests with many
Pelicans on and around the waterfront nests)
Black-headed Grosbeak
Great blue Herons
Great Egrets( quite a few)
Long-billed Marsh Wrens
Brown-headed Cowbirds, House Finches and other common small birds)
Black-crowned Night Heron(1)
Ring-necked Pheasants

etc.....etc....etc....for all the birds I didn't see!!!!!!!!

Rails, Bitterns, and Soras were supposed to be present, but nests in
islands of vegetation cannot be seen from the confines of the road(
physical access to much of the area off limits to protect nesting
species)

Have a good one. Will be in Seattle till Tuesday.....May visit
Nisqually NWR on the way back Tues.

Gerald Hamilton
Brush Prairie, Wash.
gerald at e-z.net
.