Subject: [Tweeters] Douglas County today - Greater Sage-grouse,
Date: Mar 15 18:20:46 2009
From: J. Acker - owler at sounddsl.com


George Gerdts and I were at the Leahy lek at sunrise on Saturday (March 13),
and while we didn't stay long, we enjoyed seeing 5 males strutting their
stuff in front of 2 unimpressed females.

J. Acker
Bainbridge Island, WA
Owler at sounddsl.com

A voice unspoken (or unwritten) is a voice unheard.
Be heard!

-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Tim O'Brien
Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2009 5:54 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] Douglas County today - Greater Sage-grouse, Mountain
Bluebird, Sage Sparrow, and more!


I didn't wake up as early as I wanted to but I wanted to re-acquaint myself
with the Leahy sage grouse lek site today in Douglas county. I was most
interested in the road conditions and didn't plan on seeing any grouse.
First off, the road to the lek site is passable. There is snow on the road,
but it is about 3 inches deep and has ruts down to the gravel in most spots.
The only bird I saw here was several Horned Larks.

I then made my way to Bridgeport to check behind Chief Joseph Dam for the
Yellow-billed Loon. Today, there were no loons present from either of the
fishing areas. Most notable here were several Violet-green Swallows flying
around and a good amount of ducks. Four Herring Gulls were hanging out on
the booms as well.

Bridgeport Bar had a good number of ducks and water birds. Two Common Loons
here and an ugly looking Canvasback. Several Horned Grebes and a few
Pied-billed Grebes as well. A Belted Kingfisher put on a great show for me
with a fantastic hover then a dive into the water.

I drove up Central Ferry Canyon in heavy snow and didn't find anything
interesting. I made my way via the canyon back up towards Mansfield and got
on Highway 172 headed towards Withrow. A few miles southwest on Highway
172, I was totally surprised by three GREATER SAGE-GROUSE standing in the
open next to the highway. They were only about 25 yards away and I got
great views before they flew off.

Next stop was Moses Coulee, which was my first visit to this amazing place.
I will be going back for sure! I drove Jameson Lake Road to the lake and
back. Along this road I found singing SAGE SPARROW, four MOUNTAIN
BLUEBIRDS, CANYON WREN, and PRAIRIE FALCON. A shrike of unknown species
quickly flitted to road in front of me and then disappeared. Several Common
Ravens were calling from above and Red-tailed Hawks were present as well.
Jameson Lake is still frozen over.

Good birding!

Tim O'Brien
Cheney, WA
mailto: kertim7179 at yahoo dot com



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