Hi again, Tweeters,

My wife, Elaine, and I began our day on Wednesday, 8 Aug, by getting the
rental car into an auto repair facility in Ellensburg to check out the
rattle. The technician surmised it was rocks caught between the shielding
and undercarriage (which is doubtful), and that the squealing brakes were
caused by the excessive dust (that sounded plausible). The important thing
is that everything looked OK underneath, and we could continue our trip
despite the continued rattle on bumpy roads, which as birders were a big
part of our routing. We were on our way to Spokane, and of several possible
routes we chose to drive the Grand Coulee, since we were not only looking
for Chukars, but considered the potential for Barrow's Goldeneye as well.
We found neither, but instead had a lot of other interesting birds to keep
us entertained. We took I-90 east into Grant Co., then up through Ephrata
to Soap Lake, where we made our first stop. Here, with the many RING-BILLED
GULLs we had a single juv. CALIFORNIA GULL, an AMERICAN AVOCET, and an EARED
GREBE. A CALIFORNIA QUAIL family ran along the road as we departed. We
next stopped at several places along Lake Lenore, constantly scanning the
cliffs on both sides of the highway for Chukar. The lake hosted a nice
variety of birds including MALLARD, REDHEAD, COMMON GOLDENEYE, and RUDDY
DUCK. Grebes included WESTERN (3-4), RED-NECKED (a couple), and EARED
(many). Further up the road, Alkali Lake offered our first PIED-BILLED
GREBE of the trip. Roadside birds included VG SWALLOW, E. KINGBIRD, BB
MAGPIE, BREWER'S BLACKBIRD, and AM. KESTREL. It was getting to be very late
morning, and bird activity was slowing down, so we decided to do the tourist
bit, and visited Dry Falls State Park and the Grand Coulee Dam, where we
learned about the geological history of the area and the forming of the
coulee, along with the building of the dam. An impressive engineering
project by today's standards; certainly a "wonder-of-the-world" back during
the depression when the project took form. Enroute to the dam, we saw an
adult BALD EAGLE and a CASPIAN TERN near Steamboat Rock.

>From the dam we reconnected with US 2, and headed east into Lincoln Co.
Here we would visit the Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area. Upon turning south at
Creston onto Swanson Lake Rd., one of the first birds we spotted was a
flying SWAINSON'S HAWK. Red-tails were also in the area, as were numerous
E. Kingbirds. We soon came upon our first of many LOGGERHEAD SHRIKEs, and
as we approached the lakes we saw our first CLIFF SWALLOW. Kestrels were
never out of our sight during the entire circuit. The lakes were quite
birdy. Waterfowl included a female BUFFLEHEAD, HOODED MERG, RUDDY DUCK, and
a couple of CANVASBACKs. PIED-BILLED GREBE and AM. COOT were also present.
Shorebirds included both GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS, DOWITCHERs, a couple
dozen WILSON'S PHALAROPE, and many WESTERN SANDPIPERs, and possibly other
peeps that were too difficult to ID in the afternoon shimmer. As we turned
east onto Seven Springs Dairy Rd., we watched an adult HORNED LARK stuff a
bug into the mouth of a begging youngster in the middle of the road.
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDs, not particularly common in other places visited, were
plentiful here. VESPER SPARROW was by far the most common roadside bird,
but we had a small handfull of BREWER'S SPARROW along the way, as well.
Elaine noted the signs along the fences, instructing hunters as to the
difference between Sharp-tailed Grouse and Pheasant. She asked if we were
likely to see a grouse, and I told her we would be having an extremely lucky
day if we did. A bit later she asked again about our chances of seeing a
Sharp-tailed Grouse, and I told her it was somewhere between slim and none.
She read the entry in the ABA Birder's Guide to Wash., which basically said
to look for them in April, or do a LOT of walking. Well, it probably wasn't
more than 15 minutes following this conversation when a group of large birds
flushed from the left (north) side of the road, and settled down, hiding in
the vegetation on the right. Then, one by one, SHARP-TAILED GROUSE popped
into view, crossing over a rocky ledge, disappearing into the field beyond.
Elaine counted a total of 12 birds. I took some very distant photos, but
didn't dare get out of the car to try for some digiscopes, not wanting to
interupt this marvelous parade. The location that this all took place was
on Seven Springs Dairy Rd., 2.4 miles west of Telford Rd. This was one time
that I was delighted to eat my words. We finished the circuit by heading
north on Telford Rd., where NORTHERN HARRIER was plentiful, and where we
spotted our second SAY'S PHOEBE and a W. MEADOWLARK.

After getting our room near Spokane, we headed up into southern Stevens Co.
in the evening where we attempted unsuccessfully to find Flammulated Owl.
Tomorrow's visits would include Stevens and Pend Oreille Counties.

Stan Arnold
Glen Burnie, MD
dy.dx at earthlink.net