Nancy and Tweeters,

It's my understanding that the water level in the Columbia River at the mouth of the Snake River (opposite Two Rivers County Park) is influenced primarily by McNary dam and secondarily by Ice Harbor dam. However that influence does not reach the ten miles upstream from the mouth of the Snake to the mouth of the Yakima. The water level on the Yakima delta is controlled primarily by Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams and secondarily by the flow in the Yakima itself.

And, yes, the waterfowl numbers in the lagoons and wetlands and on the Columbia River at Two Rivers County Park are also up bigtime as of this weekend past. Lots of American Coots feeding on milfoil and being kleptoparasitized by the American Wigeons and Gadwalls.

Also the first Merlin of the season here this morning trying to catch a Black-billed Magpie. Within a few seconds the Magpie's family showed up and drove the Merlin off.

Dennis Rockwell
Kennewick, WA
dennrockwell at surfbest.net
----- Original Message -----
From: Bill and Nancy LaFramboise
To: 'Tweeters'
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2006 3:13 PM
Subject: RE: [Tweeters] mcnary dam floodgates closed


Brad (& info for Tweeters),



I'm a bit confused - are you talking about waterfowl at McNary Dam or McNary NWR? You mention both. Is "Bill" at the refuge or the dam? What mudflats are closed? I don't think of McNary Dam itself as hosting huge numbers of waterfowl. They are certainly in larger numbers upstream of the dam in coves and ponds as far away as McNary NWR and Richland. McNary NWR (in Burbank) is quite a bit upstream of McNary Dam.



Even nesting waterfowl were scarce at McNary NWR this summer with no clear reason why. Though most of the water on the refuge is there because of McNary Dam, I would assume that the ponds at the refuge have their own water management gates so their levels would not be immediately controlled by the dam. Other parts of the refuge are controlled by the dam. As Mike mentioned, the water levels at the Walla Walla Delta (part of McNary NWR) were kept high this fall. This was also true at the Yakima River Delta but that has not kept the waterfowl from showing up. I would assume that much like the Yakima River Delta in Richland (not far from the refuge) the waterfowl will arrive at the refuge shortly.



The Yakima River Delta is starting to host quite a good variety waterfowl with many of the divers just showing up. Today I saw my first of the season Common Goldeneyes and Hooded Mergansers there. If one wants to see American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Bufflehead, etc, there's no shortage.



Ruddy Ducks have passed through with probably a few still around whereas a few weeks ago there were over 75. I have only seen a few Canvasbacks (4) and Redhead (maybe up to 6) at the Yakima River Delta so far. These are usually a good portion of the waterfowl at McNary NWR and are present there in higher numbers than at the Yakima Delta..



There was also a huge number (for here) of Bonaparte's Gulls at the Yakima Delta today with at least 75 present.



Today there was quite a bit of mud at the Yakima River Delta (so did they open the floodgates?). Shorebirds were in fairly short supply as it is late in the season with small numbers of Long-billed Dowitchers, Dunlin, Killdeer, and Greater Yellowlegs. Just a few days ago, even with the water high, there were 40-50 Least Sandpipers still around. The presence of at least 1 (maybe 2) Peregrine Falcons and a Bald Eagle make viewing fun as many of the birds take to the air when the raptors are flying.



PS - We recently got a note from the biologist at McNary with the results of counts of Greater White-fronted Geese that they do at the refuge in September - 1061 there on September 20 and 622 there on September 27.





Nancy

Bill and Nancy LaFramboise

Richland WA




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From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu [mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Brad Yoneoka
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2006 10:04 AM
To: tweeters
Subject: [Tweeters] mcnary dam floodgates closed



i talked to the mcnary dam operator, bill, friday, and was told that the floodgates are closed. this means the mudflats are closed, no access to food, so few waterfowl stopping to eat. according to my falcon guide "wa nature weekends" by sunny walter and janet o'mara, p.171, there usually are huge nos. of wintering waterfowl who arrive at the end of october at mcnary natural wildlife refuge,. but bill said he had not seen them yet [?]. for further info, call 509-547-4942.



brad yoneoka

Seattle, WA
mailto:yoneoka01 at msn.com



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