After receiving a tip from Fran Haywood today
(10/24/07) that there was a sizeable contingent of
Snow Geese present on Comana Lake (Lincoln County, DL:
Pg 71, A5), I rushed out there this afternoon to check
it out. The weather was breezy, mild, and partly
cloudy.

As I drove up Hwy. 23 north of Sprague, I saw a
NORTHERN SHRIKE fly across the road. This was the
first one of the fall season for me.

Upon my approach to Comana Lake (around 4:30 PM), I
was dismayed to see large flocks of geese flying south
away from the lake. Was I too late for the Snow Geese?
Considering how many times that I have previously
dipped on Snow Goose for Lincoln County, I was
suddenly stricken with a feeling of mild panic.

At the south end of the lake, the first geese that I
glassed were six GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE. Drifting
around beyond the white-fronteds were a dozen TUNDRA
SWANs, and a CANVASBACK. By this time, over a thousand
geese had already departed from the lake, so I quickly
made my way northward to view the northeastern section
of the lake. With a sigh of relief, I sighted some
forty SNOW GEESE on the slope above the lake.

Since I was viewing the birds from about a third of a
mile away, my thirty power max, loaner scope took
some time to positively ID these birds. Meanwhile,
flock after flock of geese continued to lift off. Most
of the snow geese had flown away too. I could see
plenty of CACKLING GEESE as well. However, a group of
ten white geese returned and I could clearly discern
two adult ROSS'S GEESE that were dwarfed by a towering
adult SNOW GEESE (four immatures and four adults).
>From my vantage point, the Snow Goose had an obvious
large pink bill, and the Ross's Geese had bills that
were much smaller and darker. Both of these species
were Lincoln County lifers for me, and it was the
first time that I have seen Ross's Goose in fall
migration.

Finally, the last flock of Snows and Ross's flew away
around 5:05PM, and I was ever so pleased that I had
not arrived a half hour later. It is possible that
these geese were flying out to feed in wheat fields
under the moonlight and will return to rest on the
lake during the day. At any rate, the large flocks of
geese that consisted of five different species was
quite a mid-autumn spectacle!

When I continued on northward, I saw a second NORTHERN
SHRIKE. Along Coffeepot Lake Road, there were
scattered flocks of HORNED LARKs, but I didn't have
time to work them for longspurs. A quick stop at
Coffeepot Lake revealed WESTERN GREBE -3, COMMON LOON
- 2, CACKLING GOOSE - 3 (fly over), CANADA GEESE, DC
CORMORANT -1, AMERICAN COOT, and GADWALL.

On my return route, I saw GREAT HORNED OWL at MP52 on
Hwy. 23. By this time, the sunset in the western sky
was vision to behold. Appearing as something akin to a
natural Venetian Blind, purple bands of clouds
alternated with fiery orange, sunlit, horizontal
patterns. This colorful tapestry caused me to stop and
gaze at it, and to rejoice in the knowledge that I saw
some truly great birds on such a lovely fall
afternoon.

As an addendum, I should note that Jon Isacoff and I
birded a few hours along Long Lake at Tum Tum (Stevens
County) yesterday (10/23/07). Although much of the
morning on the waterway was enshrouded by a bone
chilling fog, we did manage to see some interesting
waterfowl on the bays and on the adjacent ponds.

Predominately, there were large rafts of AMERICAN
COOTS, and plenty of RING-NECKED DUCKs. In addition,
we saw WESTERN GREBE - 4 (county lifer), WOOD DUCK -
4, HORNED GREBE - 3, HOODED MERGANSER - 5, CANVASBACK
1-female (county lifer), C. GOLDENEYE - 1, GREAT BLUE
HERON - 3, BELTED KINGFISHER - 1, and WILD TURKEY -
22.

As a personal milestone, I went over the 200 mark on
my Stevens County life list. It was definitely a good
day!

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA

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