Subject: [Tweeters] Grant County Tricolored Blackbirds
Date: Feb 2 00:51:01 2007
From: Gina Sheridan - gsherida8502 at yahoo.com


On Wednesday (1/31/07), Harold & Karen Cottet, Mike
Haldeman, and I searched through some large blackbird
flocks north of Moses Lake for a Rusty Blackbird that
Doug Schoenwald had found a couple of weeks ago. The
weather was cold (low to mid 20s), overcast, with a
chilly northeasterly breeze.

After obtaining permission to enter the stockyards, we
began picking through several thousand birds that
consisted of predominately of BREWER'S BLACKBIRDs and
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDs. Although Lesser numbers of
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDs, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDs,
European Starlings, and a couple of TRICOLORED
BLACKBIRDs spiced things up, we never turned up a
Rusty Blackbird. In addition, we did see a WESTERN
MEADOWLARK, NORTHERN HARRIER, BALD EAGLE, and a
MERLIN.

Later, we checked a nearby cemetery for owls.
Ironically, there was crew of workers cutting down
juniper trees in that cemetery. Needless to say, we
didn't find any roosting owls.

Farther south in the Frenchman Hills, we small flocks
of American Robins and a COOPER'S HAWK. Near Corfu (in
the Columbia NWR), we ran into a nice flock of mixed
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWs and AMERICAN TREE SPARROWs.

While are diligent search of the area failed to
produce any Short-eared Owls, we did have one final
bonus bird. As we were driving down Corfu Road, I
though that I heard a Virginia Rail calling from a
cattail marsh. Since the car windows were rolled up,
everyone (including me) was questioning my sanity.
After we stopped, I clicked a couple of rocks
together. A VIRGINIA RAIL responded and moved noisily
through the frozen vegetation. We had some brief views
of this hardy rail, and finally left it to it's marshy
domain.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA






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