I finally had a chance to get out and see if all of the cranes blew out of the Othello area last weekend. It appears that more have moved in, and are distributed in various fields west of town, with a few hanging on near Scooteney Reservoir and farther down Crab Creek. Bench Road west of the golf course (west of McKinney Road) had about 500 in one corn field. Most were coming out of the roost after 5 pm. We got to Corfu Road around 6:20 pm and there were about 6,000 on the Corn field. They left in groups of 50s and 100s and flew right over heading west continuously for about a half hour. I estimated 40,000 geese, which is quite a sight when they all get up at once. There is enough corn left in the field that I expect them to be here until April 10 or later, so there are still a couple of weekends to see them. We also had 7 pair of curlews on a route south and west of Othello, all in alfalfa fields and irrigated pasture. They are also scattered in grazed areas of shrub-steppe, especially along the Seep Lakes Road NW of town. I'm gone for a week but Bob Flores will probably be around for updates.

Randy Hill
Othello