Hi Tweeters:
Patti Coolsen & I headed over to the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival on Friday, Mar
28. Due to a bad weather forecast, we decided to leave late at 9am and forego some
of the birding along the way. It was snowing in Des Moines when we left, the snow
stayed with us all day, and visibility was poor. Temps ranged from the low to mid
30's most of the day. We avoided at least two closures of I-90 going east that day
which were due to multiple accidents. At the top of the pass, the road narrowed to
two lanes in slush, but because there were signs everywhere saying the limit was 45
mph, we all slowed down and made it through. The only place it wasn't snowing going
east was at the bottom of the canyon near Vantage.
Before Moses Lake, we turned south from I-90 onto Dodson Road, as visibility cleared
and the snow stopped for awhile. We pulled off at the second wildlife access. The
only birds visible were fluffed up robins in the mist. Then two Red-tailed Hawks
rose up to chase a falcon. It was a PEREGRINE FALCON which flew around a bit. This
surprised me as the area is very flat.
Our next stop was Birder's Corner at the corner of Dodson Road and Frenchman's Hill
Rd. Five TUNDRA SWANS were there along with various waterfowl. At Potholes Resort
we met my sister, and sat a bit in the store-restaurant as we watched it snow
outside. We drove back to Birder's Corner, and saw most of the same species. We
looked for Burrowing Owl but didn't find any.
We continued to Othello driving through Columbia Nat'l. Wildlife Refuge (CNWR). We
viewed Migraine Lake below the Soda Lake Dam, and saw a number of species: REDHEADS,
N. SHOVELER, AMER. WIGEON, BUFFLEHEAD, and LESSER SCAUP.
As we drove south through the refuge, the birds seemed to be hiding in the cold,
snowy weather. It was snowing in Othello when we arrived about 5 pm. I was
surprised to hear that some groups went out to view the cranes that evening, and had
a beautiful sunset out at Corfu Rd.
On Saturday, the weather was still cold, but not snowing in the morning. Our crane
viewing bus traveled on McManamon Rd, and turned south on Barton Rd. We took a
couple of rt angle turns as we traveled south toward Royal Lake. We saw a
LONG-BILLED CURLEW, and moderate numbers of SANDHILL CRANES, including some who were
dancing in a field up near Royal Lake. Our leader said these were probably young
birds who had not paired off yet. At Corfu Rd we viewed many Sandhill Cranes and
Canada Geese. There were no Snow Geese visible in the stubble field. I spent the
rest of the day attending lectures, and did not go out on a Burrowing Owl trip. I
believe most people on the owl trips got to see the owls.
A lecture program I attended was excellent. It was by Mike Denny, and was called,
"Birds, Bats, and Blades". It was about wind farms and the wind turbines' affects on
wildlife. Mike is working with the various companies in E WA to study the effects of
these huge "walls" of turbines with rapidly turning blades. Songbirds, raptors, and
bats are affected. Some birds are even attracted to the blades in certain weather
conditions. Careful placement of the turbines in non-migratory paths is important
and more studies are needed. Mike's program included pictures, and maps. He talked
about 4 windfarms in E WA. Mike has had some success in getting one of the companies
to relocate some of its turbines.
Saturday night the banquet was great gourmet food cooked by the excellent culinary
school at the high school. I ate crispy duck, and bison tenderloin chunks in a
sauce. With lots of various vegies and other foods. Wow. This seemed to perk up
the crowd who was getting a little disgruntled about the cold weather/lack of birds.
Then Mike Denny gave us a superb program about owls, with two viewing screens, and
the calls of the owls (given by Mike). I took two pages of notes. He said N Pygmy
Owls are cavity nesters, including in old apple trees. He and MerryLynn heard
fledgling N Pygmy's chirping like crickets. And the female Pygmy Owl makes yet
another call, which Mike immitated.
He said that Short-eared Owl is a good mouser. Therefore, hawks predate them and
pirate away their prey.
He also said that W Screech-Owl likes to hunt nightcrawlers on warm rainy evenings.
I'd like to see that!
The next day was pretty cool again, and it was still hard to find the birds. I went
on a geology field trip. When we got back to Othello at noon on Sunday, we wondered
if we should go birding up by Moses Lake. The weather channel said it had been
snowing there all morning. Soon, Othello was having a hail (snow pellet) storm. My
sister bagged it and headed home to Tri-Cities. But on the way home, she stopped at
some places near Scooteney Reservoir and saw 10 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS, and a
close-up SAGE SPARROW almost beside her car (she used the car as a blind).
My friend Patti Coolsen and I rested at the motel, and headed out again at 6 pm. We
headed west to County Line Ponds on hwy 26. At the ponds we saw an AMERICAN AVOCET
which had been seen earlier that morning. We also saw a GREATER YELLOWLEGS. There
were two REDHEADS.
We continued west on hwy 26 to Corfu Rd (B St), and turned left (south). We drove
slowly down the road, and saw many cranes and CANADA GEESE in the field. It was a
beautiful sunset of pink clouds and blue sky patches and a brilliant pink setting sun
under the clouds. At 7:15 the fly-out started. First the cranes flew out to the
west, some coming over our car. The noise of their gargling calls was wonderful. We
estimated that about 1000 cranes flew right over our car! This was a phenomenom that
I had never seen before. Then the geese took flight. In with them was a beautiful
SNOW GOOSE, crisp white with black wingtips. Another duskier Snow Goose flew over a
bit later with some more geese. Wow! Most of the fly-out was over by 7:25, although
a few more flew later. We were the only car on Corfu Rd.
It was dusk so we drove up to the top part of Corfu Rd and parked near Corfu Woods.
Soon Patti with her great eyes spotted a GREAT HORNED OWL. Soon it started flying
around, disturbing some RED-TAILED HAWKS, and perching on various trees. It flew out
over the little field by the corner near the highway, and dived down into the grass.
After a minute or so, it flew low back into the woods. To the right side of the
woods, a medium size critter, probably a racoon, was up in a small brushy tree
grooming itself. We left as it became more dark. It was Sunday night, and we
finally had got some good looks at birds.
The next day dawned clear, and the weather warmed up. We headed north on McManaman
Rd. Our first stop was down just before the Para Ponds in the low area past the
potato factories. We parked along the road and viewed 4 TRI-COLORED BLACKBIRDS, on
the telephone lines with BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS, and REDWING BLACKBIRDS. Some
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS were in the cattails. We walked farther along to the ponds
and saw 15 DUNLIN, and an AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN. Some KILLDEER, and 4 WILSON'S
SNIPE were flying around.
We continued up McManaman Rd toward CNWR, but we continued past the turnoff on Morgan
Rd, which is the main road into the refuge. We wanted to visit a new area to us.
It's site #4 in the WA State Birding Trail map, called COULEE CORRIDOR SCENIC BYWAY.
The map has a Loggerhead Shrike on it. Site #4 is called "CRAB CREEK ACCESS". It
was wonderful! Continue on McMan. Rd about 3 1/2 miles past the turnoff to Morgan
Rd. The road dips down to near Lower Crab Creek, and there is an unmarked dirt road
to the right. Take it and travel 0.8 miles in to a CNWR trail head parking area. We
stopped a couple of blocks before that to view birds and take pictures in the
beautiful late-morning light. At the parking area there is a foot bridge over Crab
Creek. You can walk to the other side, and take the trail/service road 1 mile to the
left or 3 miles to the right. It was warm (47 degrees) and sunny and the birds were
active. Finally!
We decided to go right. The first of many VIRGINIA RAILS called in the cattails.
About 1 block along the trail to the right of the bridge you can look to the left and
see whitewash up on the basalt. A sleeping GREAT HORNED OWL was in a hole there. A
flicker called and flew, and two NORTHERN HARRIERS flew. About 1/3 of a mile in we
heard a BEWICK'S WREN. I think they might be rare in this area. It sang quite a
bit, and finally we saw it, perched on a large low rock over near the cliffs. It was
perched up like a Rock Wren but was definitely a Bewick's. We were hearing singing
MARSH WRENS. There were many VG SWALLOWS, and 2 TREE SWALLOWS. About 1/2 mile in we
heard a CANYON WREN, and eventually saw it with the scope.
A pair of AMERICAN KESTRELS flew along the cliffs. There were Red-tailed Hawks and
N. Harriers, but we never saw a Prairie Falcon. On the way back out, Patti kept
looking for a owl in a rock, and I told her it had taken me 9 years to find one (on
this day). It was about then that she found a second GREAT HORNED OWL in a hole in
the rocks. It was directly across the canyon on the other side of the river. It too
had a lot of white wash under the hole. We could see both owls sleeping only about
400 feet from each other. We walked back to the parking lot, and from the parking
lot you could see one of the owls in the rock (through the scope). Look to the right
of the bridge, up the canyon about 1 block and across the river. Look for a hole
about 15 feet down from the top of the cliff wall. There is a lot of white wash
there. We could see it fine from the parking lot when you knew where to look.
About mid-day we started home. McManamon Rd is closed farther west from CNWR so we
doubled back to Morgan Rd, and drove up through CNWR to Potholes Reservoir. As we
drove out west and north on Dodson Rd the clouds thickened. We had showers off and
on on the way home, but no snow on the pass. I arrived home on Monday about 5:15pm.
I was glad we stayed until Monday, when the birds finally came out of their hiding
places. I felt bad for the folks who came over for the very-cold Festival and didn't
get to see a lot of birds.
This is the 11th year of the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival. The organizers of the
festival say they had one other cold festival many years ago. I guess this year is
one of those years.

Yours, Carol Schulz
Des Moines, WA
linusq at att.net