On Sunday (5/04/08), Michael Woodruff, Jon Isacoff,
and I had a restricted timeline to bird. As a result,
we opted for a pre-dawn start, and concentrated on the
Reardan-Davenport corridor in Lincoln County. Within
three and a half hours, we managed to tally 88 species
of birds.

Weather-wise, the morning began cold and clear
(mid-30's), but it was sunny and calm. Before we had
to break off our good birding run, the temperature had
risen to around 60 degrees. Due to the protracted
winter weather, snowdrifts still linger on north
facing slopes, and tree foliage is just emerging (some
two weeks later than usual).

Although Reardan Audubon Lake held no real surprises,
it was delightfully lively. As a hidden VIRGINIA RAIL
called from the cattails, an alternate-plumaged HORNED
GREBE glided by, and several WILSON'S PHALAROPEs
wheeled overhead. Meanwhile, WILSON'S SNIPE winnowed
into the rosy hues of the eastern sky. While
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDs provided marshland
ornamentation, MARSH WRENs popped up to greet us. In
Reardan itself, we spotted a lone EURASIAN COLLARED
DOVE.

Our next stop was the Davenport Cemetery. The spring
migrant mix that we encountered there included HERMIT
THRUSHes that were playing hide and seek around the
tombstones, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE & TOWNSEND'S WARBLER,
NASHVILLE WARBLER, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER,
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, CHIPPING SPARROW, RED
CROSSBILL, FOX SPARROW, WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW,
HAMMONDS & DUSKY FLYCATCHERs, WESTERN TANAGER,
CASSINS' VIREO, GC & RC KINGLETs, HOUSE WREN,
BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, and LINCOLN'S SPARROW.

Just north of the junction of Hwy 21 & Old Kuchs Road,
we noted NORTHERN SHOVELERs, GREEN-WINGED TEAL,
CINNAMON TEAL, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, and a surprising
subadult BARROW'S GOLDENEYE. Along Old Kuchs Road, we
scored many of the shrub-steppe specialties such as
SAGE THRASHER, BREWER'S SPARROW, LONG-BILLED CURLEW,
SWAINSON'S HAWK, and VESPER SPARROW. Other notables
included WESTERN KINGBIRD, SAYS'S PHOEBE, NORTHERN
HARRIER, BARN SWALLOW, and SAVANNAH SPARROW.

At the Rocklyn Vernal Pools (west end of Old Kuchs
Road, we were pleased to find an excellent selection
of shorebirds such as KILLDEER -3, DUNLIN -4, LESSER
YELLOWLEGS -1, GREATER YELLOWLEGS -5, SOLITARY
SANDPIPER -1, WESTERN SANDPIPER -1, LEAST SANDPIPER
-8, and WILSON'S PHALAROPE -8. Joining the shorebirds
were AMERICAN PIPITS - 10, TUNDRA SWAN -1, BALD EAGLE
-1, and WESTERN MEADOWLARK.

In the town of Davenport, we picked up YELLOW WARBLER
and NO. ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW. On our return leg to
Spokane (east of Reardan), we saw a CLIFF SWALLOW.

After a several hour break, I rejoined Jon and his
family for a late afternoon run out to Philleo Lake
and Paradise Prairie (Spokane County). Some of the
more interesting species on Philleo that we tallied
included AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN -22, BLACK-NECKED
STILT -1, BALD EAGLE -2, COMMON MERGANSER -2, and
OSPREY -1. Paradise Prairie held both WILSON'S SNIPE &
WILSON'S PHALAROPEs and WESTERN BLUEBIRD.

As a result of this glorious spring day, Jon and both
broke 100 species for the day.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA


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