Subject: "Keystone" Breeding Bird Survey - near Ritzville
Date: May 31 20:02:43 2004
From: Jon. Anderson and Marty Chaney - festuca at olywa.net


Hi folks,

What a blast!

Yesterday, I ran the Breeding Bird Survey that I've done for the past 11
years! It's a hoot to head back over into the dry side of the State, and
spend the morning birding "with a purpose"... I usually go over to
Ritzville the day before & get a room at the Colwell Inn and catch a burger
at Sharon's Drive-In (shameless plugs for friendly, local outfits - thanks
Heidi!), then go scout out the route & make sure the roads are open, see
what birds are in the area, how much water is in the ponds, etc.

These routes are run by starting at 4:26am & recording all the birds you can
see/hear for 3 minutes. Then, you jump in the car & drive 1/2 mile & do it
again - for 50 stops. "My" route starts at Cow Lake about 10 miles due east
of Ritzville & continues north, crossing Crab Creek and stops in the Lord's
Creek valley about 4-5 miles south of Harrington. The habitat is about 2/3
sagebrush & cheat & bunchgrass scabland & about 1/3 wheat ground, with a
smattering of hay ground & farmsteads. It's neat that there's quite a bit
of the "biscuit-and-scab" that if they were on the west side, people would
call them "Mima" prairies.

Yesterday had a few light rain showers and moderate winds, that likely kept
the birds hunkered-down a bit, but a breezy spring day in Adams County is
not unusual. The Breeding Bird Survey folks at the Patuxent Lab prefer that
the routes be run when the wind is less than 12mph; if I waited until I had
a calm day, the route would never be run!!

As it was, I did have the second-fewest number of species (45) yesterday
that I've had since 1994 - the fewest species that I'd counted was in 1995
(39), when it WAS a cold, rainy & windy day! In all, I've averaged 47.5
species each year.

What I did notice that I missed was nighthawks! In fact, I only saw 1 bird
the day before when I scouted around Cow Lake. I also had low counts on
Grasshopper Sparrows - only 6 rather than my average 19 birds. And, I
haven't seen a short-eared owl since 1999 - even with all of the
Conservation Reserve Plantings in the area.

What I did see is:

Canada Goose - 2 at 1 stop
Mallard - 2 at 1 stop
Gadwall - 6 at 3 stops
Cinnamon Teal - 2 at 1 stop
Redhead - 2 at 1 stop
Coot - 1 at 1 stop
California Gull - 17 at 4 stops
Ring-billed Gull - 146 at 25 stops
Caspian Tern - 2 at 1 stop
Common Snipe - 1 at 1 stop
Killdeer - 10 at 8 stops
Spotted Sandpiper - - 2 at 1 stop
Red-tailed Hawk - 7 at 4 stops
Swainson's Hawk - 3 at 3 stops
Northern Harrier - 2 at 1 stop
Rock Dove - 86 at 8 stops
Mourning Dove - 10 at 7 stops
Belted Kingfisher - 1 at 1 stop
Cliff Swallow - 38 at 7 stops
Barn Swallow - 11 at 7 stops
Bank Swallow - 3 at 1 stop (low count compared to prev. years)
Magpie - 17 at 6 stops
Crow - 5 at 3 stops
Raven - 5 at 5 stops
Say's Phoebe - 6 at 3 stops
Western Kingbird - 4 at 4 stops
Eastern Kingbird - 1 at 1 stop
Willow Flycatcher - 1 at 1 stop
House Wren - 2 at 1 stop
Robin - 3 at 3 stops
Yellow Warbler - 1 at 1 stop
Ring-necked Pheasant - 35 at 23 stops
Horned Lark - 147 at 41 stops
Song Sparrow - 1 at 1 stop
Brewer's Sparrow - 4 at 4 stops
Vesper Sparrow - 22 at 12 stops
Grasshopper Sparrow - 6 at 5 stops
Savannah Sparrow - 63 at 29 stops
W Meadowlark - 121 at 38 stops
Yellow-headed Blackbird - 11 at 2 stops
Brewer's Blackbird - 41 at 10 stops
Red-winged Blackbird - 51 at 12 stops
Cowbird - 31 at 14 stops
House Sparrow - 16 at 2 stops
Starling - 36 at 11 stops

Total = 45 species; 984 total birds
All of the gulls and terns were fly-overs; I presume from nesting areas at
the Potholes or Moses Lake or elsewhere. I'm not certain where the nearest
gull/tern colonies are to Ritzville?

It was a great way to spend the day, and always a pleasure to see the
prairies in bloom, with the meadowlarks calling from all around, and horned
larks doing their sky dances. I also saw 10 mule deer and 2 white-tailed
bucks. The badgers & marmots were keeping to their burrows, too, I guess.

There are nearly 30 BBS routes in Washington State that are not being run,
due to lack of volunteers. With the size of the birding community in this
State, it boggles my mind that there are ANY routes free! C'mon folks, you
should consider doing some "birding with a purpose"....

The USGS' requirements for participation are:

1. Access to suitable transportation to complete a survey.
2. Good hearing and eyesight.
3. The ability to identify all breeding birds in the area by sight and
sound. Knowledge of bird songs is extremely important, because most birds
counted on these surveys are singing males.
4. New BBS participants must also successfully complete the BBS Methodology
Training Program before their data will be used in any BBS analyses. The
training program is available from the national BBS offices and the state,
provincial, and territorial coordinators.

If you meet the first 3 criteria and would like to participate in the BBS,
please contact your state, provincial, or territorial BBS coordinator, or
the USGS or CWS national BBS office to inquire about available routes in
your area and to complete the training program.

Anyone who's interested in participating in a count for next year should
visit the Breeding Bird Survey web site at
www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/
or contact:
Ed Miller
1920 Harris
Richland, WA 99352
509-372-3832
509-943-8538
edward_m_miller at rl.gov
for more information.

Best,
Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net
"Think Globally, Bird Locally"