Tweeters, Inlanders, and others

It has been postulated from time-to-time that Sage Sparrows occasionally
over-winter in the Columbia Basin. However, we had not been aware of any
sightings between late September (9/26) through early February (2/3),
although we have logged many hours in shrub-steppe habitat between those
dates. (The 02/03 date was the early date set last year by Heidi Brunkal
and Molly Jacky at the Saddle Mountain NWR).

Yesterday (12/08/2001), to our surprise, we saw 2 Sage Sparrows during our
normal surveys on the Arid Lands Ecology Reserve. The birds were actively
foraging and moving through an area that was heavily burned in the June
2000 fire. The area is sandy with scattered Russian thistle. The birds
appeared to be in good shape.

Bill and Nancy



Bill and Nancy LaFramboise
Richland, WA
wlafra at owt.com