I got out of the valley one day last week to do some birding in areas that really are ready for spring. We were hoping for a few winter specialties like Snowy Owls and Snow Buntings. We did see two very distant Snowy Owls in a field of green winter wheat with the last traces of snow still on it. But we dipped on the buntings. Other highlights included singing Sagebrush Sparrows in the coulee, a first of the season Mountain Bluebird, quite a good number of Rough-legged Hawks, three Golden Eagles and one sleepy Northern Saw-whet Owl. We were mostly in northern Douglas County but found the little owl on its regular roost near Bridgeport State Park in Okanogan County.
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My dad preferred eastern Washington to the west side (Olympia); he loved geology and the physical sciences, and made sure the three of us got the basics. I too love geology, so these columnar basalt cliffs hold the same fascination.