Having failed to find much in North Richland yesterday afternoon, I started there again this morning.

At Leslie Groves, there were plenty of HOUSE FINCHES, AMERICAN GOLDFINCH and PINE SISKINS, but I couldn?t find any Common Redpolls. It was amusing to watch a SNOW GOOSE and two GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE hanging out with the domestic geese there. Some of the domestics are white and some are the more traditional Greylag gray. The native geese looked to be about 1/3 size in comparison. Six more GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE flew overhead due east from Benton to Franklin county.

I then headed up to Spring St. at the north end of North Richland. I didn?t come up with any rare finches, but I did find a flock of about 100 CEDAR WAXWINGS that also had a lone BOHEMIAN WAXWING. I also spotted Ivar Husa taking photos of the waxwings coming down to a European Mountain Ash where they were barely managing to swallow the huge berries.

I then headed over to Franklin County, and made my first-ever visit to Ringold. I dipped on finding the American Dipper that Tom Mansfield found there in January, finding only WILSON?S SNIPE at the spot. But the Ringold area is definitely worth birding!

I found a pair of WOOD DUCKS, a FOX SPARROW amongst the bazillion WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, and several CEDAR WAXWINGS. Over the private residence just south of the hatchery, I spotted a lone TREE SWALLOW, my first of the year. And flying around the fish hatchery ponds was a real surprise, a MEW GULL. It?s the first one I?ve ever seen anywhere in Eastern Washington.

I headed north onto the River Corridor Unit of the Saddle Mountain NWR, but found little except interesting scenery.

Nice almost-spring day in Eastern Washington.

== Michael Hobbs
== www.marymoor.org/birding.htm
== BirdMarymoor at frontier.com