Hi Tweets,

Barb and I spent the day along Banks Lake in northern Grant County. The
morning did not portend to offer good birding, as heavy snows and blizzard
conditions on our travel met us on our trip northward.
All lakes north of Moses Lake were frozen completely with the exception of
Soap Lake which held little but a few Eared Grebes and Ruddy Ducks.
Our arrival at Banks Lake did not improve our outlook, as the southern end
of the lake was completely frozen as well.
We continued northward on SR-155 and a few miles north of Coulee City the
lake showed open water and we sighed a breath of relief. Snowfall in
northern Grant County was much greater than in Moses Lake (where there was
3" - 6"), with depths approaching 24" near Electric City. We decided that
the best bet was to look for gulls and other water birds, and then bird in
town at Grand Coulee and Electric City.
We were able to locate several large rafts of American Coots which held
good numbers of both Gadwall and American Wigeon, but little else. Our first
good birds came just before Steamboat Rock State Park when we located 10
RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS in a single flock.
Our next stop at the park boat launch along SR-155 produce good numbers of
Black-capped Chickadees, a single Townsend's Solitaire, and a single Hairy
Woodpecker.
At Coulee Playland we picked out a single 1w THAYER'S GULL and a 2w
GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL as they rested on the log booms. There were good
numbers of Herring Gulls, a single California Gull, and several Ring-billed
Gulls at this location as well.
We then went to the Coulee Resort where we requested permission to bird and
the owner was so kind and told us to go wherever we wished. We located
several AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS along the roadway thickets and the normal
Song and White-crowned Sparrows. Also we noted our second Townsend's
Solitaire. A Common Loon was found, but the Yellow-billed Loon was not
located.
Our return along SR-155 was also eventful with many gulls now feeding along
the roadway south of the Steamboat Rock State Park access. Another 1w
THAYER'S GULL was located as well as the 1w GLAUCOUS GULL previously
reported by the Sullivans.
A large covey of Chukar were seen at the south end of Blue Lake on the
return trip. This covey contained approximately 50 birds and was feeding
right along SR-17.
We spent a little time driving around Soap Lake and heard a BLUE JAY
calling, but were unable to locate and visually confirm this bird. The bird
was heard calling several times about 2 blocks south of Main Street along
Division.

Cheers

Doug Schonewald
Moses Lake, WA
dschone8 at donobi.net

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