Subject: Reardan-Davenport area birding
Date: Dec 13 06:33:25 1999
From: Joanne H. Powell - jhpowell at snapwa.org


Hi, All:

Sorry for the late report. Joyce Alonso and I went looking for Red Polls on
Saturday, Dec. 4. First we stopped at the Reardan Slough (aka Audubon Ponds)
and were amazed at the number of waterfowl. (The weather has been relatively
mild so the ponds are not frozen over.) We saw N. Shovelers, Gadwalls,
Hooded Merganser, Widgeons, Buffleheads, Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneyes,
Green-winged Teal, Mallards and, of course, coots and Canada geese. We drove
the old Sunset Highway just west of Reardan to check out the GH Owl nest;
found the owl but too early for any nest building activity. Near Mondovi
storage silos we did see a small group of Hungarian Patridges. It was
extremely cold and windy - with the wind chill we figured close to zero.
Little birds were too smart to be out in the wind so we saw almost no
passerines - just Robins, Varied Thrush and a small flock of Cedar Waxwings
at the Davenport Cemetery. In all our back road rounds we saw no Red
Polls...rats!!! We did see the usual raptors; RT Hawks, RL Hawks, N.
Harriers. Along Wood Rd. near my house, there has been a Northern Shrike
hanging out for a month or so. Also, as I was only a 1/2 mile from home,
near dusk, I saw a Short-eared Owl working the wheat stubble very close to
the road. There are a pair of Short-eared Owls that I have seen hunting the
stubble between Highway 2 and Coulee-Hite Rd. for the last couple of years.
I see them on the way home from work (at least I did until it started
getting dark at 4:30!).

If anyone is thinking about birding near Reardan the daytime temp has been
in the high 30s - low 40s so the ponds are probably not frozen over yet and
may still have a good variety of waterfowl.

Regards, Joanne
powell at snapwa.org or
powell at iea.com
Reardan (Spokane) WA