Coulee Corridor Birding Trail

I woke up around 6am and quickly got ready to leave the house. I had packed most of my things last night, so the only thing I had to take to the car was my backpack of clothing, camera and rental lens. I was to meet about eight others at the park & ride nearby and leading them on a trip along the Coulee Corridor, which is a known birding trail. We were going there to photograph the sand hill cranes that were migrating north, as well as other birds. This was the first time I lead a weekend trip with so many people, and I didn’t know a single soul…I was a bit nervous, to say the least! Six cars followed me as we began our journey east along I-90.

We arrived at Pot Holes State Park and set up our campsite around 11am and quickly set up our tents and a grab a bite to eat. Then, we were off to visit some of the spots listed on the WA Birding Trail map. Some of the locations were difficult to find and I found myself leading my group in circles at times….I sure hope they understood that this was new territory for me! Plus, it’s hard to drive and read a map to navigate at the same time (most of the spots had no real address, so plugging it into my GPS was not an option).

At the Corfu Woods, we could hear a large flock of sand hill cranes, but could barely see them in the distance. Driving closer was not an option. We hiked about closer for a bit, but didn’t want to go further – the darn birds would probably fly off by the time we hiked that far (I’m guessing they were 1/2 mile away). Besides, there wasn’t a trail and we were having to skirt sage brush and carry heavy camera equipment. So, we pressed on the the next spot.

From time to time, we could see sandhill cranes and other birds, but none were very good photo opportunities.

I led the group to some spots where sandhill cranes had been last year when I did a tour through the Sandhill Crane Festival, but we didn’t see any.

We got back to our camp around 5:30pm, ate dinner, then built a campfire for all of us to gather around. I turned in around 9pm and read for a bit before feeling really sleepy.

I woke up around 6:30, packed my tent/gear, got dressed, and headed to the convenience store across from the park. I had told everyone to meet me there by 8am. While I waited, I ordered breakfast and coffee. Hendra was already there. Soon, we were joined by John, Greg, & Eric, who also got some breakfast. The rest of the gang showed up around 8am and we headed out.

Today, we were going to head north, but after some discussion, we decided to head into Othello first and see if we could find the burrowing owls. We had a mad that showed a general location need the canals (these run between the fields to aid in irrigation). I turned, and everyone followed, onto a dirt road that ran between a field and a canal. It didn’t look promising, so I stopped to turn around. Hendra said that he thought the owls were a few fields/canals over. By the time we turned around, he comes a farmer in a 4-wheeler heading our way. I saw something sticking out from the back and I was hoping and praying it was a shotgun! Hendra was in the lead this time, so he ended up talking to the farmer. Before we knew it, he had hopped on the 4-wheeler and off they went, across the road to the next field, zipping up and down the sides of the canals. We all got out of our cars to watch…and hope the farmer wasn’t taking Hendra hostage! When they returned, Hendra told us the farmer showed him where to look. I went to thank the farmer, who’s name was Jim. We then hopped back into our cars and headed over to the next field/canal. Since we had to park and hike a ways to the burrow, I opted to stay at the cars, consulting my notes and maps to our next destination.

When the gang got back, they said the owl had popped out his head, but then a dog (a rottweiler that was quite friendly and greeted us when we got out of the cars) flushed the owl out and the owl flew off, the dog chasing it.

Back in the cars, we decided to head back towards Pot Holes State Park – one of the group had seen some cranes in a field as we passed. They were still there, but off a ways – even with a 500 lens, I still had trouble getting a good shot of them.

We drove west to our next destination and hopped we see more birds. We found a spot called Birder’s Corner where we spotted red-winged blackbirds, bank swallows (which were too fast to get a photo), black-necked stilts, and even a northern harrier.

We headed to our next location, but didn’t see much more than some ducks. However, in the corn field on the way out, there were about 50 cranes. These were also off a bit, making good photos hard.

We ended up ditching out next several birding spots – my directions were screwy and we were going in circles again. So, we decided to have lunch at the Blue Heron Park in Moses Lake. While there, we saw a couple of pairs of downy woodpeckers.

After lunch, we headed to Sun Lakes / Dry Falls State Park and set up camp. Afterwards, Roberta, Randy, and I drove up to the Dry Falls Overlook. Dry Falls used to be the widest falls in the world until the end of the ice age. From the overlook, it’s around 400 feet down to the bottom. Some WSU students were rappalling down the cliff, picking up litter that inconsiderate people had thrown over the edge. While there, we could see several of our gang’s vehicles on the other side and at the bottom of the falls.

The three of us decided to drive to Grand Coulee Dam, but after going as far as Steamboat Rock State Park, we decided it was too far and turned around. We stopped in Coulee City and had dinner – none of us felt like cooking on a camp stove.

We arrived back at camp, it was just starting to get dark. Matthew was looking in the trees, hoping to find some birds…he found something he wasn’t expecting….a racoon, who was curled up in a V of the tree, sleeping. As it got darker, it woke up, groomed itself, and disappeared when it was full-on dark. We made sure we didn’t leave anything out that he might get into.

All of us seemed to turn in by 10pm. I read for a little bit and drifted off. I didn’t wake again until around 3:30 when I heard it start to rain. I was toasty warm and immediately went back to sleep.

I heard someone get out of their tent around 6:30am and thought I’d get up too. It was still raining heavily and water was starting to leak into my tent. The foot of my sleeping back and my pillow had both touched the walls of my tent, causing them to get pretty wet. I really hate packing up a wet tent, but it couldn’t be helped. I just rolled it up and tossed it in my trunk…I hope it will be sunny over the next few days, because I’m going to have to stretch it out and let it dry.

After changing, I told everyone I was heading home….I wasn’t about to drive around in the rain looking for birds (that probably wouldn’t be out anyway). Some opted to drive around and look at the scenery…others were also heading home. Everyone else was packed when I left, with the exception of Katie and Matthew – they were still sound asleep in their tent (I sure how they didn’t wake up to desertion by everyone).

I stopped in Ephrata and had breakfast, then headed home. It rained the whole way…except for Snoqualmie Pass, where it was in the low 30s and snowing. Once home, the first thing I did was soak in a hot tub….great way to end a trip!