Hi folks,

Yesterday, I did my annual Gonzo trip to eastern Washington to run the
"Keystone" Breeding Bird Survey route. The BBS is coordinated by the USGS
folks (more information on it at www.mp2-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/ ), and is a
roadside survey program. Each route is 25 miles long, with 3-minute point
counts conducted at half-mile intervals for a total of 50 point count stops.

All birds heard or seen within a quarter-mile radius of each stop are
recorded.... and, they don't want you 'pishing-up' birds (and, you just
KNOW there are cool birds hiding in the sagebrush that won't show
themselves! There were several times that a bird would 'pop up' just after
the 3-minute mark - including kestrel, sage thrasher, etc. - or that I'd see
a species on the 1/2 mile drive between stops...). These surveys begin 30
minutes before sunrise and take about 4 - 5 hours to complete. They use the
BBS data to determine populations and trends, and use thousands of
volunteers to collect the data - kind of like with the Christmas Bird
Counts, only for 1/2 a day..... anyone interested in participating in the
BBS should contact the USGS or the Washington State Coordinator:

Ed Miller
1920 Harris
Richland, WA 99352
509-372-3832
509-943-8538
edward_m_miller at rl.gov

Anyway, I really enjoy getting out into the sagebrush and wheatland to do
this point-count; I need to get out from under the trees and into the open
country once in a while (must be my Willamette Valley background?). The
Keystone in Adams County is the name of a depopulated railroad siding a
couple of miles west of Sprague Lake. My route begins at Cow Lake, 10 miles
east of Ritzville, and goes pretty much due north through the sagebrush,
cheatgrass, 'Mima Mound'-type pimpled prairies, CRP and bunchgrass, and
wheat fields, crosses Crab Creek and ends up in the Lords Creek Valley about
5-6 miles SE of Harrington.

I usually count about 45-50 species on the counts, with any number of other
species seen - usually 20 seconds after the 3-minute beeper goes off! This
year, on 2 June 2003, I pulled out 864 birds of 47 species. The bird of the
day for me was a FERRUGINOUS HAWK that I saw about 3/4 mile north of the
Harrington RXR crossing - flushed off a fence-post and flew 20 feet over my
head!! What a view.

The list:

Gadwall 1 at 1 stop
Mallard 3 at 1 stop
Redhead 3 at 1 stop
Harrier 1 at 1 stop - male
Swainson's Hawk 4 at 4 stops
Red-tailed Hawk 3 at 3 stops
Ferruginous Hawk 1 at 1 stop
Ringnecked Pheasant 43 at 29 stops
American Coot 2 at 1 stop
Killdeer 8 at 5 stops
Snipe 1 at 1 stop
Spotted Sandpiper 1 at 1 stop
Long-billed Curlew 1 at 1 stop (I love their calls!!)
Ring-billed Gull 67 at 21 stops (all fly-overs)
California Gull 2 at 1 stop
Rock Dove 58 at 9 stops - grain elevators and
barns
Mourning Dove 26 at 13 stops
Common Nighthawk 3 at 3 stops
Great Horned Owl 2 at 1 stop
Red-shafted Flicker 1 at 1 stop
Willow Flycatcher 1 at 1 stop
Say's Phoebe 3 at 3 stops
Western Kingbird 11 at 7 stops
Eastern Kingbird 5 at 3 stops
Black-billed Magpie 4 at 3 stops
Crow 2 at 1 stop
Raven 9 at 6 stops
Horned Lark 111 at 35 stops
Violet-green Swallow 1 at 1 stop
Bank Swallow 8 at 2 stops (colony along Lords
Creek)
Cliff Swallow 79 at 10 stops
Barn Swallow 21 at 9 stops
Marsh Wren 1 at 1 stop
Robin 7 at 4 stops
Common Yellowthroat 1 at 1 stop
Starling 24 at 10 stops
Brewer's Sparrow 4 at 3 stops
Vesper Sparrow 15 at 11 stops
Savannah Sparrow 44 at 31 stops
Grasshopper Sparrow 29 at 15 stops
Song Sparrow 1 at 1 stop
Red-winged Blackbird 30 at 12 stops
Western Meadowlark 140 at 39 stops
Brewer's Blackbird 24 at 6 stops
Yellow-headed Blackbird 12 at 2 stops
Brown-headed Cowbird 36 at 18 stops
House Sparrow 9 at 4 stops

This year, I noted the general lack of water away from the Creeks or Cow
Lake. Often, there is water in a number of potholes, coulees and stock
watering ponds; most of these were dry. This really cut down on the
diversity of the duck species I'd usually see; I didn't see pied-billed
grebe, Canada goose, black-crowned night herons or pelicans this year.
Quite a few Caspian Terns were feeding at Cow Lake on Sunday evening; they
must have all been sleeping-in when the count began at 4:26am...

It was a great day, though; and I took the back roads through the channelled
scablands back toward Moses Lake and I-90, birding and looking at the spring
flowers. I greatly appreciate the program that provides me with 'a reason'
to spend a day birding in eastern Washington.

Best,
Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net