Saturday I headed over to Othello to partake in a pre-Festival birding trip. I thought that I would skip the masses of the Sandhill Crane Festival and bird that area this weekend. All of the participants of the trip fit into one van (no bus, multiple cars or vans, etc) and Randy Hill was our guide, making for a pleasant 3+ hour tour that afternoon.

On the way over I made several stops including one along the Old Vantage Hwy (at MP 20) where I had a pair of SAGE SPARROWS. There is a parking area for the Quilomene Wildlife Area and the birds were right there when I got out of my pick-up. I then headed up to Wilson Creek to try and relocate the FERRUGINOUS HAWKS that Andy and Ellen Stepniewski had reported last weekend. I've seen the birds several times in the past at this location but always want to see them again, and both were present. Additional sightings during my weekend of birding included:

BLACK-BLACKED WOODPECKER - 3 females at the Elk Heights burn

SAGE SPARROW - 2 at MP 20 Old Vantage Hwy

TRICOLORED BLACKBIRD - 5 birds seen at the Para Ponds, Othello

FERRUGINOUS HAWK - 2 at Wilson Creek

LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE - 3 along east Crab Creek Road near Corfu

BLACK-NECKED STILT - 1 at the ponds near Dodson Rd and Frenchman Hills Rd - thanks to Randy Hill for the insight

CHUKAR - calling from the cliffs along east Crab Creek Road near Corfu

CANVASBACK, REDHEAD, and CINNAMON TEAL - at the ponds near Dodson Rd and Frenchman Hills Rd

CANYON WREN - calling from cliffs at Wilson Creek

In addition the Sandhill Crane pre-Festival birding trip led by Randy produced of course SANDHILL CRANES and BURROWING OWLS, along with several other highlights including LONG-BILLED CURLEW, PRAIRIE FALCON, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, and GREAT HORNED OWL.



Cheers and Good Birding;



Michael Fleming

Ballard, WA

michaellf AT myway.com

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