I did my annual spring eastern WA pilgrimage to find birds and enjoy the
wildflowers (not many yet) and the scenery. The birds put on spectacular
shows (see below) and the weather was great.
I won't bore you with everything I saw, just the highlights.

First, for the first time, I found wild turkeys in the little woods by the
Swauk Prairie Cemetary. Didn't know they were there until yesterday. The
pygmy nuthatches and mountain chickadees there were too easy to find and
very willing to be seen.

East of Ellensburg along Old Vantage Hwy my first stop got me a horned lark.
Great but just down the road, in the area of the wind farm, a weirdly
flapping bird on a fence post caught my eye. After an abrupt U-turn and
back to the flapping bird I was able to get off the road enough to take some
time and watch the action. A pair of sage thrashers were in the mood for
love. The male would bring its wings together over its back then bob low
with its neck extended. He repeated this behavior several times but it
didn't seem to entice the female to procreate. (see more about procreation
below). I was able to watch this pair for about 5 minutes then off for more
birds.

The wind was beginning to pick up so I was unable to pick up any sage
sparrows, boo hoo. But a stop for lunch on the old road below Gingko Pet.
State Park brought out a singing rock wren and a Say's phoebe that were both
looking for love. As I ate lunch a prairie falcon soared up from the river
and over the bluffs to the northwest of me. All this was watched by five
fat marmots in a rockpile just south of the old road. Taking the old lane
up to the viewpoint I found a chukar sitting on the side of the road,
looking lonely.

Later that same day..... Evening brought me to Othello and its various
venues of bird-dom. Para ponds were very barren but up at the feed lot a
mixed lot of red-wing blackbirds, brown-headed cowbirds, yellow-headed
blackbirds and several tri-colored blackbirds kept up a cacaphony of noise
in the reeds across the road from the cattle. Up at Soda Lake a flock of
cliff swallows rode on the uprising wind on the south face of the dam while
assorted ducks paddled about below. Meanwhile, back at County Line ponds
avocets and black-neck stilts kept company with a single willet along with
the mob of green-winged teal.

On the way out to check on the burrowing owls east of town another set of
flapping wings in the distance across an alfalfa field caught my eye. A
pair of long-billed curlews were in the throes of pre-nuptial bliss,
oblivious of me. The male pulled its wings together behind its back, dipped
its check and extended its neck and head toward the female. This behavior
was almost identical to what I had seen the sage thrasher do earlier in the
day. Guess there's only so many ways a bird can impress its lady. After a
couple minutes of this wing/neck display the male mounted the female.
Apparently there is no such thing as a 'quickie' in their world as he stayed
on her back as she moved around, staying there for about a minute and a half
before dismounting. I couldn't say for sure if they successfully mated but
they sure tried hard enough. More curlews were heard in the area but none
were blatantly mating.

A quick look found a single burrowing owl and another pair just down the
road at the usual place I find them.

Along Hwy 26 near Corfu the geese and cranes were coming in in waves. Corfu
Rd. itself was a nice place to watch the action from but the mosquitoes were
horrible. On the way back up Corfu to Hwy 26 I found a displaying America
Bittern atop a mat of reeds on the west side of the road. I pointed it out
to other birders and we ended up blocking the road with birders watching
this guy. No one complained. He stood in plain sight about 75 ft. from the
road as we watched. At least twice it did its vocalization as we looked on
as the sun set. Behind us, on the other side of the road, yellow-headed
blackbirds vied with a winnowing snipe and a sora for our attention. But
the bittern had us all spellbound as we watched it stand motionless,
sometimes with neck extended and sometimes without. Guess that camoflague
technique only works if the bittern is in the reeds not on them.

I found all but one of my target species. Guess the white pelicans haven't
made it as far north as Othello yet. Oh well... This morning's trip down
Lower Crab Creek turned up both a loggerhead and a northern shrike, each at
opposite ends of the trek.

In all a great day and a half of birding and getting some sunshine.

Mary Hrudkaj
Belfair/Tahuya

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