Hi, Tweets

After being unable to bird much this winter, today was to be a long, quick
trip east of the mountains to see sandhill cranes and turkey vultures. Not
to be! While we drove the length of SR26 to almost-Othello (Gillis Road),
then turned back and drove through to the Columbia via Crab Creek, the
cranes were evidently cavorting in some farm fields out of view. Likewise,
turkey vultures decided not to show even though I know they are out there!

However, it was an excellent day for birding with weather pleasant and an
array of mostly 'regular' species. Our route was over Snoqualmie Pass, on
I-90 to Kittitas, switch over to Old Vantage Highway, across the river and
then down to 26 and as above. Most of the birding was done from the
truck, hence the lack of passerine notations.

At Kittitas, evidently the barbecued cricket feast was over since we saw no
roughlegs around the burned-over fields that Andy mentioned earlier. The
Caribou owl was feeding a youngster and redtail and owl (gh) heads were
sticking out of every available large stick nest - so it seemed.

A variety of raptors, corvids, and waterfowl was seen along the way to Crab
Creek with nothing out of the ordinary. Crab Creek yielded 4 long-billed
curlews, a singing Virginia rail, mourning doves and meadowlarks, various
ducks, and a coyote. Kestrels were everywhere. No cranes.

The most unusual, i.e., out-of-place, sighting was that of a great blue
heron on the osprey nest platform at the Dairy Queen exit in Ellensburg
(don't know the number!). We have, like many of you, watched that nest
site for years, always ospreys. This morning I looked and a huge bird was
standing on the platform fiddling with the meager pile of sticks there.
Was he an outcast from the small heron rookery across I-90 on the river?
We wondered about it, but on the return, about 4 pm, the heron was still
standing there. No ospreys were seen at the several nest sites along the
highway, but it's time!

Also saw mountain bluebirds, kingfisher, pheasants, killdeer, plus 8
probable trumpeter swans in the river near the heron rookery (2 were
trumpeters for sure, the others were not seen well enough - at 70 mph).
Near the Teanaway turnoff, ~50 elk were on the south side of the highway
and about a mile further, 13 mule deer were on the north side of the
highway - both were in fields adjacent to the road.

Raptor totals: 35 redtails, 26 American kestrels, 11 northern harriers, 2
roughlegs, and 2 adult bald eagles.

All in all, a good day (except for the lack of cranes and storks).

Cheers, Diann

Diann MacRae
Olympic Vulture Study
Bothell
tvulture at halcyon.com