Seeing Scott Downes post I thought I would share my day too - some overlap. AND let me start with apology and correction for anyone who saw my Ebird report that included Greater White Fronted Geese at Lind Coulee.? Frankly had not even given them a second thought as my excitement was over the 4 Stilt Sandpipers there (I see Scott had 5 many hours earlier.)? They were domestic geese and I have removed the record from the Ebird report.
I set off today mostly because I had no power and internet following the storm last night.? Just headed east not sure where I would end up.? I left VERY early so it was still dark when I hit my normal haunts and just kept going hoping to get a photo of a Franklin's Gull (my photo nemesis this year) and headed to Sprague Lake.? Not a single gull or tern on the lake (and I checked twice).? And yes I looked for the Indigo Bunting reported by Terry Little - no luck on that either.? But birding the area was fun with a big flock of Red Necked Phalaropes at the Sprague STP and some challenging Sparrow ID's in many spots along the way including the area further east of the STP which I had never visited before.? Still not sure of at least one but definites were White Crowned, Savannah, Song, Vesper and at least one Grasshopper.
I am also working on a confusing distant photo or a bird that at first I thought was a Say's Phoebe and then a Western Bluebird and now think it is a ___________________.? Lots of White Pelicans, a variety of Grebes, numerous duck species, Wilson's and Yellow Rumped Warblers and hundreds of almost exclusively Barn Swallows.? At Lind Coulee in addition to the Stilt Sandpipers and misidentified geese were two Greater Yellowlegs and a Spotted Sandpiper plus Great Blue and Black Crowned Night Herons and a few Great Egrets.? I did not see the Black Bellied Plover Scott saw earlier and no peeps or dowitchers which I expected.
I spent a total of 10 minutes at Potholes SP really only looking for Franklin's Gull (nada).? Three Bonaparte's had me excited for a minute and yes they are lovely but NOT even one Franklin's Gull would have been great!!
Back home - power works, I have Internet and I HATE WINDOWS 10 !!!