[Tweeters] shrikes and things near Othello

[Hill]

This morning I got away from the office for a few hours to check on the status of a couple of projects on Columbia NWR.  On the Grant County end of Morgan Lake Road (in and near Marsh Unit 2) I saw three different Loggerhead Shrikes and one Northern Shrike.  Also about a dozen American Tree Sparrows using the cattail and shrub interface.  I finally had the scope along to check out the 50+ swans that moved into the County Line Ponds along highway 26 last week.  Unfortunately the wind was howling and most of the heads were tucked, but I did see one Trumpeter Swan and there was a juvenile Snow Goose on the far shore.  Most of the other geese looked like lesser Canadas.  Also a male Canvasback.  Royal Lake now has a wheelchair-accessible ramp to an overlook.  We will be seeding the edges and cleaning things up over the next couple of weeks, but it can be a good spot now to see numbers of geese (5K last week) and ducks (17K Mallards today) during the day.
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