I passed through the Columbia Basin on Sunday on my way Pullman and stopped to check a few shorebird areas along the way. Still a few around but numbers were not large. The best birds were 5 Sanderlings at Potholes Res., at the boat ramp just south of the main state park exit. Also present here were 3 Pectoral Sandpipers 1 Semipalmated Sandpiper, Bairds (2), least (2), Western (50), and Spotted (2) Sandpipers. Many killdeer round out the shorebirds. Also of interest were 35 White Pelicans, 8 Great Egrets, and 26 Sandhill Crane overhead. The county line ponds along highway 26 west of Othelo had 8 Bairds, 5 Least, and 2 Western Sandpipers along with 1 Black necked Stilt. And finally, the settling pond near the rest area where highway 26 crosses hwy 395 had 1 Solitary Sandpiper, 1 Pectoral Sandpiper, many Killdeer, and 8 Wood Ducks.
Cheers and Good Birding,
Bill Shelmerdine
Olympia
georn1 at msn.com