Hi Tweeters,

I drove to Bennington Lake east of Walla Walla this morning, arriving there just after 8:00. I saw the Great Gray Owl flying down the canal within 30 seconds after I got to Mike Denny's markers on the trail. It took half an hour to find the owl again, perched in a cottonwood tree across the canal but in a perfectly open perch. Over the course of nearly two hours I took many photos, five of which I put on my website tonight in the "New Photos" folder (link is in the signature box).

It is a spectacular bird to see. I have become accustomed to having birds fly just before I get my camera mounted onto my scope, so this was a wonderful experience watching this elegant bird for so long. At one point it straightened its posture and had a small twig in front of its face, making for poorer photographs. The twig evidently bothered the owl as much as it did me because it grabbed the twig in its beak and snapped it off.

I made many stops on the way back to Yakima, including the overlook of the Walla Walla River Delta, numerous places on the McNary NWR and several spots along the Columbia River in Richland. I found two Snow Geese, one on the ponds at the refuge headquarters (I watched it fly from the west pond to the east pond with at least 5000 Canada Geese) and one on the McNary Pool, which is along Highway 12 south of the Snake River. A photo of the second one is also in the new photos folder. There are an incredible number of ducks, Canada Geese and Bald Eagles in that area.

Denny

* Denny Granstrand *
* Yakima, WA *
* dgranstrand at charter.net *
photos on-line at:
http://osprey.bardill.net/gallery/