Made a jaunt over the hill for 5 days this past week. Started Tuesday on Old
Vantage Hwy. at daybreak listening to the morning chorus of meadowlarks,
bluebirds and ravens. Photo'd the mountain bluebirds and headed on down to
the horned owl in the cliff at mp 22. Photo'd it and move down to mp 23
where I thought I'd read there was a sage sparrow hanging around. He wasn't
but I did till about noon and then headed to the river to try for tufted
duck. Didn't see it but while scoping the birds on the water a bald eagle
came in and after circling 5 times while a grebe ducked he finally caught
him. At one point the eagle was all but completely submersed, and the kind
of floated like a duck trying several times to get up off the water before
finnally succeeding with the grebe dangling under. I tried for a picture but
too far.
After that and lunch I headed for Leahy Rd. for the next morning without
seeing much of note on the way. Wednesday daybreak I was out by the fence
with almost everything I had with me to wear being worn, and my camera on
the tripod with about 4 1/2 times worth of doublers stacked on. It didn't
work, of course. I went back to a reasonable one doubler at a time but the
distance is just too great. As for the sage grouse, I counted between 12 and
15 males and two definate female.
Then off to Swanson Lakes to find out about sharp-tailed grouse. They
don't have the lek tours anymore because the birds have continued to
decline. The person at headquarters said they are bringing in some from out
of state to try to give it a boost. So I went to some areas on Telford Rd
and walked around a bit just 'cause I needed to get some exercise anyway. I
scared (or maybe I should say it startled me) a horned owl in a tree and he
flew to an old shed with a kestral in pursuit. A little later near some old
buildings (which I stayed out of as requested) I saw a couple say's
phoebes,a dozen or so red-winged blackbirds, a northern shrike who put on
quite a show chasing the blackbirds and a least chipmunk. The chipmunk was
unusually gray colored. Then I was watching what I thought were some
chipping sparrows but were actually american tree sparrows. That was really
nice because I was able to get a very good photo of one. Other than the
usual larks, meadow and horned, that was about it for Wednesday. Oh, I guess
I should mention that while walking through a tall grass field just before
dusk, two birds with short wide pointed tails flushed in front of me and
flew about 200 feet into the sagebrush before disapearing from view. Were
they sharp-tailed grouse? I don't know! I've never for sure seen one. They
could have been hen pheasants which are hard to tell apart I'm told. They
were where the grouse are rumored to sometimes be, though, so who knows. No
pictures!!
Thursday, after my morning walk I journeyed to Turnbull refuge and spent
some time on the drive through the refuge. The western bluebirds were there
but not yet in great abundance. I was able to photo a pygmy nuthatch which
was my main reason for that leg of journey. From Turnbull I went to Winddust
and spent the night.
Friday started with a short stop at Washtucna. Starlings and house
sparrows! On to Othello for the blackbirds. Lots of red-winged, quite a few
tri-colored, a few yellow-headed, and one for sure brewer's. A ton of
traffic on McMannahan Rd. takes a lot of pleasure out of this location for
me. No worthwhile pictures. A quick run down Corfu Rd but no cranes. On back
to Vantage. Still no tufted duck, and no finches either. Feeling kinda
discouraged I was about to head home when Carol Schultz and Charlie Wright
came by. While we were talking Charlie heard, and saw, a canyon wren and I
was able to get an acceptable photo. Charlie also told me that milepost 20
was the spot to find the sage sparrow I was looking for. Thanks Charlie.
Turned my day around!
After spending the night nearby I was at mp 20 at daybreak Saturday and
was greeted by a loggerhead shrike as the sun was rising. Soon after the
sage sparrowS put in their appearance. Just before starting home I heard a
chorus down the road. I walked down and while they were too far out for
pictures, I was treated to several minutes of sage thrashers putting on a
show feeding on some fresh insects. A great way to conclude my jaunt!
I hope this is interesting enough to warrant the space I've taken. Photos
at http://www.pbase.com/jvhigbee/current

Joe Higbee
Spanaway, Wa
mailto: jvhigbee at hotmail.com