Hi Tweets,

I had an enjoyable trip over the weekend. Unfortunately, I didn't get
to see as much as I wanted because my sister wouldn't stop very often,
but I saw more than I would have if either of my parents had been
driving :-)

Fridays on;y interesting sightings were of a small kettle of
Broad-wionged hawks (13 of them) between Washtucna and Colfax. I have
written down somewhere around what mile marker it was, so anyone who is
interested can e-mail me private and I will dig it out. There was also
a Burrowing owl sitting on a fence post at mile post 103 off of Highway
26. I must say, they look a little different at 70 mph. There were
also lots of Kestrals, Harriers and Red-tails.

Sunday, we stopped in Othello and looked at the ponds off of McManomon
road. Quite a few Avocets, lots of Pintails, Coots, Canada Geese, and
Mallards, but I didn't see any Stilts, or Cinnamon Teal.

Back on Highway 26, passing Crab Creek and the County line, there were
lots of Avocets which stood out from the road-way. I couldn't get my
sister to pull over to the shoulder for me to look for Stilts. We also
took Crab Creek Road out to Corfu and then came back to hwy 26. Along
Crab Creek road there were pheasants, Western Meadowlarks, Chukar,
Loggerhead Shrikes (2), Sandhill Cranes, Rock Wren, Prarie Falcon
Swainson's Hawk, and Say's phoebe, along with everything else one could
expect like Red-tails, Kestrals, Ravens, Magpies and Harriers etc.

Well, we didn't go as far on Crab Creek road as I would have liked,
because it was a dirt road and my sister didn't like driving on it (not
to mention that there was a bridge that we both had doubts as to
whether our '89 Camry could cross). So we decided to head off.

We stopped in Ellensburg to gas, and I noticed about a dozen Tundra
Swans on a lake behind the Comfort Inn at exit 109. I finally talked
my sister, Michelle, in to take me to Wenas for lunch. Well, more dirt
roads! Lots of Mountain and Western Bluebirds, along Umptaneum rd.
Also a Great-Horned Owl landed on the ground right next to the car. We
finally got to the pavement where we turned right. About a mile and a
half down the road, my sister mumbled something about how I owed her
big time (I gave her a car wash when we got home...it needed it) and
the car got stuck. We were less than a mile from the Boise Cascade
site, and we couldn't go farther. So, we stopped and had lunch and
left. So close yet so far. I suspect that it is a little too early to
catch much up there, but I have never been to Wenas, so I guess I will
have to try again some other time. From the way she told the story to
my parents I don't think either one of them will be taking me anytime
soon either. The funny part about it is, we saw more cars on the dirt
road between where we got stuck, and where the road finally turned back
to pavement again (not incluclding the short stretch of pavement near
the campsite) than we saw between Colfax and Othello earlier in the
day.

So, all in all, it wasn't a bad trip, but it certainly could have been
much better.


===
Michael Dossett 17
Bothell, Washington
phainopepla at yahoo.com
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