I was up flying around the north part of the Columbia Basin yesterday
as part of a scheduled waterfowl count. Small geese are just starting
to show up in Grant County. One thing that we did not see was
Sandhill Cranes. They may have all headed south unless their stopover
in Douglas County was at a hidden location. They seem to have left
the Royal Slope last week. Of the 5,000+ that I saw on 9/21, a
majority were climbing and heading south. We saw no swans yet, but
egrets remain in good numbers (more than 200 scattered around Potholes
Reservoir, which is very low on water) and white pelicans were
scattered on and off the Columbia River, so there are still big white
birds to see. Killdeer remain abundant and concentrated.

Randy Hill, Othello