Hi Tweets,

After the morning fog lifted I went birding around the Moses Lake/Potholes
Reservoir area. Several notable sightings were had as well as many of the
common winter birds that are expected in the Columbia Basin.

A nice Prairie Falcon on Road L SE provide the first highlight of the day.
Several large flocks of Horned Larks provided some fun, but no Lapland
Longspurs. Also no Snowy Owl was located in this traditional area.

Two Greater Scaup females made identification easier when they flushed from
Lind Coulee, did a circle, and landed again. Also at Lind Coulee was a
single American Tree Sparrow.

Potholes Reservoir had nothing out of the ordinary and the park was fairly
quiet except for a few of the expected winter birds. A nice adult Bald Eagle
with an American Coot did perch on one of the taller trees and offered nice
looks.

Frenchman Hills Road offered the best birding and the most notable sighting
of the day. A single SANDHILL CRANE was feeding in a corn field to the south
of the road and provided my first winter record for this species that was
not injured. Also, a flock of Dark-eyed Juncos that I estimate to be 500 -
700 birds fed in a newer orchard with exposed weed heads. The number was
amazing, and the two Slate-colored Juncos were a nice bonus.

The Grant County 2008 List is now at 90. That's about it

Cheers

Doug Schonewald
Moses Lake, WA
--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.486 / Virus Database: 269.19.1/1220 - Release Date: 1/11/2008
6:09 PM