Hal, Dennis, Tweeters,

I was birding in Eastern Washington last Sunday and Monday, (4/20 -4/21)
but did not go to the colony. I have been there in previous years and have
fond memories of the lively coming and going, especially of cormorants. In
these two days I did not see a single Double-crested Cormorant anywhere.
Maybe State Fish & Wildlife Service has more information? I did see three
Great Egrets at the Para Ponds in Othello, so there must be a breeding
colony there somewhere. I did find the White-faced Ibis at County Line
Ponds on Sunday evening.

I also visited the Tricolored Blackbird colony and Hal's statement: "One
could not have asked for a more satisfying experience of this species in
Washington. " describes it perfectly!

Good Birding!

Hans

On Tue, May 22, 2018 at 10:22 AM, Hal Opperman <hal at catharus.net> wrote:


> Dennis (and Tweeters),

>

> JoLynn and I had a similar experience there last week (Thursday May 17).

> We saw no active nests and almost none of the expected species anywhere

> nearby: one Great Egret in flight and two Double-crested Cormorants

> swimming -; that was it. We had not been there for years, and the

> depopulation compared to before was a shock.

>

> One surprise on the way in was a Grasshopper Sparrow, singing from atop a

> low, mostly dead shrub a hundred feet off the road. This was on the north

> (right) side of the road 150 yards, more or less, from the "T" where you

> turn west (right) from the entrance road to head toward the (ex-) rookery.

>

> The previous afternoon (May 16) we visited the Tricolored Blackbird colony

> on Morgan Lake Road in the Columbia NWR, as described on Tweeters by Jim

> Elder from May 11. One could not have asked for a more satisfying

> experience of this species in Washington.

>

> Hal Opperman

> Seattle

>

>

>

> > On May 22, 2018, at 9:04 AM, Dennis Paulson <dennispaulson at comcast.net>

> wrote:

> >

> > Hello tweets,

> >

> > Netta and I visited the north end of the Potholes Reservoir on Sunday,

> and I was shocked to see scarcely any birds at the big nesting colony

> there. I was there last year, and the air was full of Double-crested

> Cormorants flying to and fro, with scattered Great Blue Herons and Great

> Egrets among them. Dozens of nests had birds on them, mostly cormorants but

> the other two species as well. On Sunday we saw a half-dozen birds on nests

> with considerable searching and a single egret the only bird in flight.

> >

> > Does anyone know any more about this? I speculated that a few angry

> fishermen got tired of the cormorants taking "their" fish and raided the

> colony. Of course I have no proof of that, but why the huge decline from

> one year to the next, especially of a bird so successful and persistent as

> the Double-crested Cormorant?

> >

> > I think Black-crowned Night-Herons have virtually disappeared from out

> there. They used to be common at the same colony. I don't think there have

> been any there in recent years, and we hardly ever see them any more. I

> have spent a lot of time out there since around 1980 and have seen the

> demise of the Columbia Basin (some would argue that it has been

> "reclaimed"), one of the saddest stories in my time in the Pacific

> Northwest.

> >

> > Dennis Paulson

> > Seattle_______________________________________________

> > Tweeters mailing list

> > Tweeters at u.washington.edu

> > http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

>

> _______________________________________________

> Tweeters mailing list

> Tweeters at u.washington.edu

> http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

>




--
*Hans Feddern*
Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA
thefedderns at gmail.com
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