Subject: Columbia Basin Birds, Mammals, Reptiles & Fungus
Date: May 8 07:51:58 2001
From: DeSilvis, Denis J - Denis.Desilvis at PSS.Boeing.com


Tweeters,
As a follow-up to Cheryl's notes, I birded/golfed the Moses Lake area this past weekend. Along with the usual suspects she saw (incl. the cormorant obs. both Friday and Sunday at the same spot) I noted the following:

Swainson's hawk on possible nest at top of tree just NE of intersection of Dodson Rd and 4th SW (obs. Sunday). On Friday, noted pair of Swainson's hawk near Dodson and Frenchman Hill Rd. Poss same bird. (Cheryl, could one of these be the hawk you saw?)

Curlew in display flight near Dodson and first set of ponds S of I-90. Also obs two canvasback to east side of road in same area.

Pair of Am. avocets at Gloyd Seep. Also two calling sora; and three snipe obs. winnowing near same area.

Two, poss three, pairs of long-billed curlew along area near 1st hole/10th teebox of Moses Pointe golf course. Obs several times in display flight/territorial interaction. Bl. necked stilt seen once there, too.

Note on cinnamon teal at Dodson Rd and Fr. Hill Road: None obs on Friday afternoon, but five pair noted Sunday afternoon.

Mammals: One deer and one raccoon seen on I SW.

Denis DeSilvis
Kirkland, WA
Denis.desilvis at PSS.Boeing.com

> ----------
> From: cheryl essary[SMTP:chiawana at bossig.com]
> Reply To: chiawana at bossig.com
> Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2001 11:58 PM
> To: tweeters
> Subject: Columbia Basin Birds, Mammals, Reptiles & Fungus
>
Hi Tweeters,
It was a sunny day in Othello (Sunday May 6) so my sister Karen and I
went for a few hours of birding. Our first stop was Para ponds, where we
saw the RED-WINGED AND YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS as well as CINNAMON TEALS,
BLACK-NECKED STILTS, AMERICAN COOTS, AND REDHEADS. Since the bridge is out
on McManamon Road, we went on Morgan Lake Road to the Columbia National
Wildlife Refuge. We both saw our first WESTERN KINGBIRD of the year! We
ended up seeing a lot of them today, as well as EASTERN KINGBIRDS. There
wasn't much activity at the lakes we visited, probably because of the
fishermen, so we crossed O'Sullivan Dam and headed west. In O'Sullivan
Reservoir I saw 3 BIG fish jump, as well as a DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT
on a rock, striking that classic drying-the-wings pose. It was gorgeous!

We didn't stop at Potholes State Park, we went on to Frenchman Hills
Road and dallied along the way, looking in all the ponds and trees. We
saw more CINNAMON TEALS, A GREAT BLUE HERON, and several big PAINTED TURTLES.
One was so close to the road that we didn't have to use
binoculars to see it turn its head to look at us. It must have been 6-7
inches.
> At the intersection of Frenchman Hills & Dodson Road we spent quite
> awhile at the pond viewing a variety of creatures. There was another
> turtle, as well as at least 3 MUSKRATS. The birds included NORTHERN
> SHOVELER,PINTAILS, MALLARDS AND REDHEADS. A CORMORANT was also there.
> And we had a good look at a Marsh Wren singing. The highlight, however,
> was a close-up view of a PIED-BILLED GREBE wrestling a fish into
> submission. This little Grebe was determined to get this fish down his
> gullet if it was the last thing he did. Except an oppurtunistic gull
> noticed, and landed in the water next to him. The Grebe dove with the
> fish, and that was the last we saw of it!
> From there, we headed north on Dodson Road, stopping once to look at a
> hawk preening on a telephone pole. It didn't even notice us stop, and
> when it saw us it looked surprised but didn't fly away. We think it was
> a young REDTAIL. Even though we were stopped right beside it, it didn't
> fly away, and when we moved forward it turned to watch us.
> We stopped to hike the Audubon Nature Trail. It was a great afternoon,
> we had the whole place to ourselves. Unfortunately there weren't a lot
> of birds. Some REDHEADS,MARSH WRENS, AMERICAN COOTS AND RED-WINGED AND
> YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDs. The phlox is blooming, and there was a big>
> bumblebee and some tiny butterflies (sorry I'm not a butterfly person).
> Now for the really WEIRD thing. Some of you who have been there might be
> able to tell us what this is. Well, we know it's a fungus, but . . . a
> few feet from the trail we saw what at first looked like a skeleton of
> an animal. We got closer to it and the pieces were so big I started to
> have a sick feeling . . . until I saw it was a fungus. Some huge
> toadstool or mushroom or something. One of them was big enough that I
> momentarily wondered if it was a human skull. There were 4 or 5 that we
> saw, and they looked like they were pushing up right out of the dirt
> that size. I have lived here all my life and never seen anything like
> it. Either it's weird or I have just not been paying attention.
> Anyway, we had a great day and hope to do it again soon.
>
> Cheryl Essary
> Othello
> chiawana at bossig.com
>