Good afternoon birders. What a wonderful day in the Tri-cities (Richland,
Kennewick, Pasco). I picked up my 17 year old grandson after his Jr.
college classes and drove to the McNary wildlife refuge at Burbank, WA. We
spent several hours in the bird observatory with 20 kt. winds surrounding us
taking pictures and saw:



American Kestrel

Harrier

Northern Shoveler

Greater and Lesser Scaup (100s)

Coot

Mallard

Canvasback

Canadian Goose

Pied-billed Grebe

Bufflehead

Marsh Wren

Song Sparrow

Great Blue Heron

California Quail

Muskrat

Cottontail



Eventually we decided to move on and my grandson said "I have been seeing
some birds kind of like great blue herons but bigger. We could go look at
them". Jumping at the idea we went to the "Twin Bridges" over the Yakima
River in West Richland and looked out on a flooded field with thousands of
ducks (American widgeon, Mallard, Green-winged teal, Pintail, Gadwall(?),
and Killdeer). My grandson was disappointed that the birds we were coming
to see weren't there when I spotted 3 Sandhill cranes in the sky. Jumping
back in the car we followed them to N46o 21.1639' W119o 22.9806' where we
found well over 100 making a lovely racket in a small marsh. They were soon
joined by several hundred more cranes overhead. Unfortunately a very loud
pickup truck drove by and spooked them but not before we got lots of photos.




It's great to spend an afternoon with your grandson but awesome when you get
to do some fantastic birding at the same time.



Wally Davis

Snohomish