Hi Tweeters,



Well, I seem to have done a trip similar to that of Hans Feddern, but backwards.? I drove straight to the Othello area, stopping only once?along the way.? The different timing really made for a different selection of birds.? My first stop was at Ginkgo Petrified SP, which was gated closed, so I parked on the road shoulder and walked in.? The wind was really strong and there were very few birds around.? I did manage to see a SAY'S PHOEBE by the petroglyphs, where it wasn't as windy.



Driving down Hwy 26 (sometime between 9:30 and 10:30) I came across a few large flocks of flying SANDHILL CRANES.? Two of the flocks had more than 300 cranes each, one between Division Rd. (which also yielded a N. SHRIKE) and A Rd. SW, and the other off of 12 Rd. SW to the east of D Rd. SW.? Neither of these flocks landed near roads.? There were also a few scattered, much smaller flocks as I drove closer to Othello.?



The County Line Ponds was the best birding stop of the day.? In addition to the CACKLING GEESE?mentioned by Hans and assorted duck species, there were some 60 Sandhill Cranes when I arrived and more kept flying in.? When I left, they exceeded 200.? In addition, there were 2 TUNDRA SWANS, and 1 REDHEAD.? It was really nice just to listen to all of the bird noise.



When I drove back the same way several hours later, there were no cranes in sight.?



Despite going to 3 different locations, I dipped on those dirty, rotten, low-down, citizen-sciencing Burrowing Owls.? I recovered from my low spirits by the adrenaline rush of parking 1/8 of an inch off of the road at a 90 degree tilt by the Para Ponds.? It was full of vocalizations, but the blackbirds were being very sneaky and mostly hiding in the reeds.? Eventually, I did manage to see?2 male TRI-COLORED BLACKBIRDS and 1 YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD.



On the?journey home, I drove down the Old Vantage Hwy.? I found another SAY'S PHOEBE by the Other Ginkgo Petrified SP unit and also saw a couple of MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS along the way.? When I returned to Ellensberg late in the afternoon, I drove up Umptanum Rd. as far as the Umptanum Falls parking lot.? I hiked for about 45 minutes, then turned back as it was getting late.? It was?a beautiful walk, but very quiet with almost no birds.? There were some WESTERN BLUEBIRDS already using the nesting boxes along the lower elevation?of Umptanum Rd.



On an unrelated note, I noticed a post by Evan Houston yesterday concerning a large GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE that he saw at Nisqually NWR.? I was also there yesterday with my daughter Cally when I ran into Jim Pruske, who immediately mentioned the same bird.? He led us to the small flock of geese, which was located just at the beginning of the new dike trail.? It really stood out.? Not only was it larger than the others, but its neck was noticeably thicker, it had a darker head, and very few dark markings on its belly.? Jim thought that it might be a specimen of the Taiga subspecies.? He was able to take several close-up photos.? Another goose in the small flock was the same size as the remaining 4 birds, but also had a darker head.



Good birding,



Lonnie Somer

Olympia, WA

wheelermombi at comcast.net