Synopsis
Winter still seemed to have its grip on Eastern Washington when we camped in Potholes State Park at the end of March. Going over the pass, we were greeted with the most snow pack we had seen in a while. The snow-capped foothill in Eastern Washington also spoke of the cold.

While camping at Potholes, we saw a large raft of thousands of migrating Snow Goose, who were migrating through the area. It was an impressive display of white and black floating in the choppy waters of the reservior. Also still present was a Greater Yellowlegs at Birder's Corner and the utter lack of summer birds including stilts, Cinnamon Teal and phalaropes. At least the Sandhill Cranes were back in large numbers at the overlook on the Columbia NWR and in the fields outside of Royal City.

We hiked around Upper and Lower Goose Lakes, a great place to do some social-distanced hiking as there are many directions to go and just open grass and sageslands in all directions. Large angry clouds threatened rain, but we remained blissfully dry and warm as it seemed to evaporate before reaching the ground. The calls of Canyon and Rock Wrens and Say's Phoebes echoed off the mesa walls and Horned Larks gave their tinkering songs in the open grasses. Formations of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Goose could be seen flying in the distance overhead. And Red-tailed Hawks circled above.

During this trip we also hiked the White Bluffs trail on the Hanford Reach, which we had apparently visited 20 years ago. Something I had completely forgotten about until reviewing old pictures when I got back home. We parked at the south end trailhead, but the area is easily accessible from the northern end as well. A short ~2 mile section of the road was closed off to vehicle traffic and makes an easy to walk along, though walking along the bluff above or the rolling hills along the Columbia River below also make the area nice to walk along. Rock Wrens called from the small bluffs, and Western Meadowlarks sang from the few remaining sagebrushes. Most of the sage had been burnt away during a wildfire years ago. A small pack of coyotes gave their mournful howls and a single coyote yiped and barked at us as we had likely inadvertantely wandered to close to its den. It was a peaceful and beautiful area with an interesting backdrop of reactors in the distance.

On the way home, we stopped at the Ginkgo Petrified Forest, where spring was more showy among the blooming Arrowleaf and Hookers Balsamroot. Milk-vetch and Tufted Phlox also added to the blooming colors.

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Pictures (click on thumbnails to enlarge)

Bird List

Snow Goose	GL,P
Canada Goose	GL,P,C,W
Northern Shoveler	C
American Wigeon	C,W
Mallard	GL,C,W
Northern Pintail	C
Green-winged Teal	C,W
Lesser Scaup	GL,C,W
Bufflehead	P,C,W
Ruddy Duck	Birder's corner
Common Goldeneye	W
Hooded Merganser	GL
Common Merganser	GL,W
California Quail	P,C,W
Chukar	G
Ring-necked Pheasant	P,W
Eurasian Collared-Dove	P
Mourning Dove	P,C,W
American Coot	GL,P,C,W
Sandhill Crane	GL,C
Greater Yellowlegs	Birder's corner
Killdeer	P
Ring-billed Gull	C
California Gull	GL,P,C,W
Double-crested Cormorant	GL,P,W
American White Pelican	C
Great Blue Heron	C,W
Northern Harrier	GL
Sharp-shinned Hawk	W
Bald Eagle	W
Red-tailed Hawk	GL,C,W
Great Horned Owl	P,W
Belted Kingfisher	W
Downy Woodpecker	P
Northern Flicker	GL,P,C
American Kestrel	GL,C
Prairie Falcon	W
Say's Phoebe	GL,C,W,G
Black-billed Magpie	GL,C,W
Common Raven	GL,P,C,W,G
Horned Lark	GL,W,G
Tree Swallow	P
Violet-green Swallow	GL,C
Golden-crowned Kinglet	P
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	GL
Red-breasted Nuthatch	P
Rock Wren	GL,W
Canyon Wren	GL
Marsh Wren	GL
Bewick's Wren	GL
European Starling	GL,P,W
Mountain Bluebird	G
Varied Thrush	P
American Robin	P,W
House Sparrow	P
House Finch	GL,P,G
American Goldfinch	P
Dark-eyed Junco	W
White-crowned Sparrow	GL,W
Vesper Sparrow	GL
Song Sparrow	GL
Spotted Towhee	P
Western Meadowlark	GL,P,C,W,G
Red-winged Blackbird	GL,P,C,W
Yellow-rumped Warbler	P,W
Critters
Fox Squirrel	P
Pacific tree frog	P
Coyote	P, W
Mule Deer	C, W
Butterflies
Morning cloak	W
Gray hairstreak	G
Large marble	G
Flowers
Yellowbells	C, W, G
Prairie star	C
Hooker's balsamroot	G
Arrowleaf balsam root	G
Death camas	G
Tufted phlox	G
Canby's biscuitroot	W, G
Wooly-pod milk-vetch	W, G, C
False agoseris	G
Pugent desert parsley	W

GL: Upper Goose Lake

P: Potholes SP

C: Columbia NWR (Grant Co. portion)

W: Wahluke Wildlife Area-White Bluffs Viewpoint

G: Ginkgo Petrified Forest SP--Interpretive Trail

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