Hi Tweeters,
My sister and I left Othello after 1:00 this afternoon to see if we
could find the Gyrfalcon reported at the grain elevator at Hwy 26/395
junction. Unfortunately, it was not there. We continued east and turned
south on SR 21 (toward Kahlotus) to go to SandHill Park. An Osprey was
flying from telephone pole to telephone pole in front of us. We were
stopped looking at it andwhen we moved forward it flew to the next pole.
We got good looks at it in flight and on the pole. Sort of made up for
no Gyrfalcon, but not totally!
There were 3-wheelers at SandHill Park so it was bust. We got back on
26 and went to Washtucna. On Hwy 241, after the junction with 240, we
came upon a huge nest in a poplar tree -- with a Red-tailed Hawk in it!
As soon as we stopped it flew away so we got a good look at it;
beautiful! Are they nesting already or was she just checking out the
nest?
We continued on to Palouse Falls. The trees were full of Goldfinches
and there was a robin on the lawn. Other than that, the only thing of
interest (besides the falls) was a cute marmot who was out on the edge
of the cliff taking advantage of the new green growth.
We came back by the Gyrfalcon site on our way home, but still no luck.

Not a terribly productive day, bird-wise, but a nice way to spend an
afternoon!

Cheryl Essary
Othello
chiawana at bossig.com