Saturday (10/12/02) I didn't find a SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER at Othello or at
Lind Coulee. At the Potato Ponds I looked from outside the fence and saw
one GREATER YELLOWLEGS. At the Para Ponds were 3 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS and
an OSPREY.

While traveling from Othello north through the Columbia NWR I saw a juv
NORTHERN SHRIKE.

At Lind Coulee I ran into Bill and Nancy LaFramboise and Kraig Kemper. We
all looked for STSA. To my knowledge, noone saw the bird on Saturday. Some
of the birds observed at Lind Coulee were:
Osprey-1
Great Egret-3
Pectoral Sandpiper-5
Long-billed Dowitcher- 113
Clark's Grebe-1
Franklin's Gull- 1 juv
Bonaparte's Gull-3
Prairie Falcon-1 hunting shorebirds

This morning (Sunday, 10/13) I started birding at the north end of Potholes
where I saw the following:
American White Pelican-3
Bewick's Wren-2
Long-billed Dowitcher-9
Great Egret-1
Yellow-rumped Warbler-1

Then I left for Soap Lake in hopes of seeing SURF SCOTERS and LONG-TAILED
DUCKS. There were at least 2 LTDU and 10 or more SUSC. There were also 3
WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS. Near the south end of the lake a RED PHALAROPE swam
along the shore near the gazebo, picking insects from the surface. I
watched this bird from 10-11AM, at times within 30 feet through a scope with
a 20X60 zoom eyepiece. This bird had a stout bill, chiseled at the end as
opposed to ending in a sharp point. At close range I could see a small
patch of yellow at the base of the lower mandible. The back was solid gray,
extending in a thin line up the back of the neck to the back of the head.
The top of the head was white. The primaries of the swimming bird were much
darker than the uniform gray of the back. There was a dark patch extending
behind the eye.

The bird was pure white below, with no hint of red on the neck. In flight,
the tail was dark down the center and white on the sides. The white wing
stripe was obvious.

On Highway 2 between Atkins Lake and Jameson Lake Rd was an immature dark
Harlan's Hawk.

It was a good week end.

Marv Breece
Seattle, WA