On Sunday, March 12th, a friend and I ventured over to Othello in search of cranes. At around 10:00am, we found about 200 SANDHILL CRANES in a grass field just south of Lower Crab Creek where the South Crab Creek road intersects Highway 26. After observing the cranes from the car for about 5 minutes, a gunshot was fired from a nearby home. This caused the cranes to take off noisily, and eventually they settled in a grassy field on the other side of the road. Oddly, a second gunshot was fired, this time from the north side of the road, but it did not startle the birds. I have no idea as to why the shots were fired; we certainly were not on private land.

KESTRELS were abundant, hanging out on telephone wires.

We spent the rest of the day in the Columbia Wildlife Refuge and were treated to the songs of many MEADOWLARKS. We also noted several large groups of ducks consisting primarily of AMERICAN WIDGEONS, NORTHERN PINTAILS, LESSER SCAUPS, COMMON GOLDENEYES, MALLARDS, a few BUFFLEHEADS, a few REDHEADS, and one CANVASBACK. We also saw a few beavers.

Around 5:30pm we found a group of at least 30 TUNDRA SWANS in a small pond in the Frenchman Hills Wasteway.

At dusk, while stopped at Dobson and 7th, we heard the sounds of approaching SANDHILL CRANES. Over the next 5 minutes or so, several large V-formations of cranes flew overhead going North. The birds were an incredible site against the fuchsia sky; we estimated that 400 cranes passed over our heads.


Debbie Feinman
dfeinman at micron.net
North Bend, WA
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