After Jon Isacoff and I had been snowed out birding
last Tuesday (6/10/08), I wasn't really in the mood to
post anything on that experience. However, since the
sun is now shining and my mood has brightened, I
thought that I would recount that unusual weather day.

When we left the South Hill that morning, the
temperature was 36 degrees and light rain was mixing
with snow. I was hoping that we could try to pick up
some of the birds that Terry Gray had reported seeing
on the previous day in Whitman County.

Upon arrival at Steptoe Butte, we were in a March type
snowstorm. The ground was white, moderate snow was
falling, and the temp had dropped to 32 degrees.

Under these adverse conditions, we dipped on all of
our target birds, and we barely eeked out seeing
robins, starlings, House Wren, and one bedraggled
Yellow Warbler.

Hoping to escape the unrelenting snowfall, we headed
west to Rock Lake. Around midday, the snow had
stopped, and a bit of sunshine breached the cloud
deck. Although we spent quite a bit of time waiting in
vain for the Forster's Tern to appear, we did manage
to see one CASPIAN TERN, BARN, CLIFF, and BANK
SWALLOWs, and some WHITE-THROATED SWIFTs, fly over. On
a riparian track to the east, we found PACIFIC-SLOPE
FLYCATCHER, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, LAZULI BUNTING,
GREAT HORNED OWL, BULLOCK'S ORIOLE, SONG SPARROW,
SPOTTED TOWHEE, and HOUSE WREN.

While Sheep Lake gave us a fleeting view of a
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW, we didn't see much else. On the
Lincoln County boat launch site on Sprague Lake, we
had a couple of singing and conspicuous GRAY CATBIRDs,
and a COMMON NIGHTHAWK. In the northeastern corner
of the lake, I thought that I had a pair of Clark's
Grebe, but they moved out of view before I retrieve my
scope.

On the Sprague STP, there was a contingent of AMERICAN
AVOCETs, and WILSON'S PHALAROPEs. Meanwhile, an adult
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON flew over.

Continuing with the weird weather thread, on the early
evening of the following day (6/11/08), I drove
through a horrendous hail storm. As I drove up the
South Hill, a nerve wracking, torrent of hail pounded
my rig, and made me wonder if my windshield would bear
up under nature's angry barrage. The consolation of
that evening was that brilliant multiple rainbows
hung under the cloak of rain clouds.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA