Hi All:

This past Friday morning, I was driving on I-82 south from Yakima on my way
to a business appointment in Toppenish. At roughly 0930 I spotted three
large white birds flying over the highway and circling close together as if
to descend into the wetland area on one side of the highway.
All were white with very long, narrow wings with prominent black primaries,
had very long necks and very long trailing legs. I'm familiar with
Sandhills, with both species of swans, with snow geese - the only thing that
fits is Whooping Cranes. Is this possible???
I've never seen them; while I read that a few have been released in Idaho,
that's about all I know about these birds in the west. For all I know, there
may be very small numbers of them that do migrate through Eastern
Washington.
I'd love to hear from anyone who could give me more information or that saw
them.

Ruth Taylor
Seattle
rutht at seanet.com