Subject: [Tweeters] thanks for tree info; Spokane query
Date: May 31 21:30:42 2010
From: Gary Bletsch - garybletsch at yahoo.com


Dear Tweeters,

Thanks to the several Tweeters who wised me up on my Washtucna tree question--so THAT'S what a Russian olive looks like! And all this time, I had been looking for them in glasses of Stolichnaya....

Here is another question. Yesterday, I tried for Clay-colored Sparrows at the Harvard Road portion of the trail east of Spokane. I was surprised to see that the AT&T cable posts, as described in the ABA Birdfinding Guide, had neat little orange tapes covering up all the numerals. I was going to use them to figure out where to search for the sparrows. I even tried prising the tapes off, but could not get at the numerals, no matter what I did. Eventually, I walked out into the field via an old tractor track, reaching a sort of dumping ground with old pieces of concrete septic pipe lying about. I saw three Vesper Sparrows, but saw or heard no Clay-coloreds.

I think the fate of "markers 6W148 and 6W154" is a good example of what sort of features make good landmarks, and which don't! Is there anything else out there to use as a reference point, now that the AT&T markers are null and void?

So, here are my other questions about that area.

Isn't the Clay-colored spot close to where the Upland Sandpipers used to breed?

Is all the development around there regarded as the reason those birds left?

Are there still Clay-coloreds out there, or have they abandoned that area?
I ended up walking back on the aforementioned track, crossing a small gully along the way. I think I would have noticed if there had been any sparrows out there. It looked like, if I had continued much beyond the dumping ground, I would have reached a housing development. Was I close?

Thanks as always for the information.

Yours truly,


Gary Bletsch ? Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA ? garybletsch at yahoo.com ? ?