Yesterday (Friday, May 11), I had a day off work and ventured out to the Columbia Basin. Perhaps I missed the memo on this, but I was surprised to find what seems likely to be a large breeding colony of Tricolored Blackbirds on Morgan Lake Road about a half mile north of McManamon Road in Adams County. There were at least a hundred blackbirds visible there. However, it sounded like there were many blackbirds down in the cattails below the line of sight so I think there were many more. This patch of cattails is right next to the road allowing for excellent close views. This is directly across the road from the driveway into the Columbia NWR refuge headquarters. The driveway is a very wide area of gravel so there is plenty of room to park safely off the road and out of everyone's way.


I was surprised to find these birds so conspicuously because, as far as I can tell, there is only a single eBird report from this location (from last Wednesday). I was there for the better part of an hour and only spotted one Red-winged Blackbird among the Tricoloreds. There were also a couple Yellow-headed Blackbirds on the periphery and, at one point, at least 3 Brewer's Blackbirds. A birding couple from Sweden also showed up while I was there.


Other highlights of the day included a Long-Eared Owl on an exposed perch at the westernmost access to Nunnally Lake on Lower Crab Creek Road. Warning: the trail is very wet (boots would have been nice) and many mosquitos. Apparently owls are not bothered by mosquitos.

Jim Elder


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