Inspired by the recent accounts of great birding in this area, Barbara and I
headed last Friday evening, April 11, to Moses Lake. As we headed south on
Saturday morning three Great Egrets passed overhead, heading for the lake.
In the next few minutes on WA 17 we saw some of the usual suspects, Mourning
Doves, American Kestrels, starlings, redwings and Brewer's blackbirds - and
the first Western Meadowlarks that we heard almost constantly the entire
day. We drove farm roads north and east of Othello, hoping for Burrowing
Owls. They weren't about, however, but robins, Killdeer, House Finches, and
White-crowned Sparrows were. On WA 26 just east of Othello we found eight
White-fronted Geese resting in a field. Several miles west of town we
stopped at a pond for views of six sleeping White Pelicans, while Mallards,
Green-winged Teal, pintail, Redhead, and Lesser Scaup were feeding,
Black-necked Stilts and American Avocets walked about, and two dozen Dunlin
probed the shoreline.


On the Corfu Road we stopped to watch an entire field that seemed moving.
Two pickup trucks roared by us at high speed and frightened up some 500
Canada Geese and 500 Sandhill Cranes - they darkened the sky as they circled
about before settling down again - a magnificent sight, the more impressive
because we saw that several thousand other geese and cranes had refused to
interrupt their feeding to fly about.



Along Lower Crab Creek we spotted a late Northern Shrike, several harriers,
two perched Red-tailed Hawks, and a Golden Eagle soaring high above. We
were scanning the rocky slopes for Chukar when two walked out from the
roadside and stood in front of the car. Turning north at Smyrna we watched
American Goldfinches and Yellow-rumped Warblers in a row of trees as a few
Tree Swallows flew above. Where Dodson Road meets 7 SW we watched a large
assortment of waterfowl, including Cinnamon Teal, Canvasbacks and Northern
Shovelers. Several Violet-green Swallows flew over the pond, and a single
Barn Swallow perched with 4 Rough-winged Swallows on a wire fence. We then
headed south from O'Sullivan Dam and spent an hour walking along the Crab
Creek Trail, dodging a few raindrops from time to time. Two Rock Wrens sang
their buzzy songs from high places, a kingfisher flew past us downstream,
and a grouse exploded from the brush before us so fast that we saw only a
furiously flailing bunch of brownish feathers as it dived into thick
undergrowth ahead. Ring-necked Pheasants honked to each other, and the
liquid song of a Canyon Wren came from close to the rock wall. Above, a
Prairie Falcon lingered eating something on the rimrock.



Back in the car we headed for Warden Lake, where we watched four Long-billed
Curlews fly and stalk about on the grassland, Horned Larks perched on the
sagebrush, and a Common Loon slept near the north end of the lake, its head
tucked back between its wings. After stopping briefly at the new Moses Lake
Starbucks at Exit 179, we headed west to Frenchman Coulee, hoping for
White-throated Swifts that were somewhere else, but we did see Cliff
Swallows and Rock Doves flying about the basalt cliffs. Our final stop was
at Vantage, where a Say's Phoebe hawked insects from a wire. On the way back
to Seattle we saw an Osprey on the nest by I-90 near Cle Elum and a Bald
Eagle overhead. As we drove over the West Seattle Bridge we saw our local
Peregrine Falcon sitting on the tower near its nest. A fine day, a bit
early for the migrants, but we still ended up with 70 species for the trip.



Species List:



Double-crested Cormorant American Avocet

American White Pelican Killdeer

Greater White-fronted Goose Ring-billed Gull

Canada Goose California Gull

American Wigeon Common Loon

Green-winged Teal Rock Dove

Mallard Mourning
Dove

Northern Pintail Belted
Kingfisher

Cinnamon Teal Say's Phoebe

Northern Shoveler Black-billed
Magpie

Canvasback ` American Crow

Redhead Common
Raven

Ring-necked Duck Northern Shrike

Lesser Scaup American
Robin

Bufflehead European
Starling

Common Merganser Rock Wren

Great Blue Heron Canyon Wren

Great Egret Marsh Wren

Osprey Tree
Swallow

Bald Eagle
Violet-green Swallow

Northern Harrier Northern
Rough-winged Swallow

Red-tailed Hawk Barn Swallow

Golden Eagle Cliff
Swallow

American Kestrel Black-capped
Chickadee

Prairie Falcon Horned Lark

Peregrine Falcon House Sparrow

Chukar American
Goldfinch

Ring-necked Pheasant House Finch

American Coot Yellow-rumped
Warbler

Sandhill Crane Song Sparrow

Wilson's Snipe White-crowned
Sparrow

Long-billed Curlew Yellow-headed
Blackbird

Willet
Red-winged Blackbird

Dunlin Western
Meadowlark

Black-necked Stilt Brewer's
Blackbird



Total: 70 species



Paul Webster

Seattle

Paul.webster at attbi.com