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Friday,
March 25. 2005
Last week Tim's boss saw sandhill cranes at Othello on the east
side of the Cascade Mountains so we headed over Snoqualmie Pass
to have a look today.
It was strange
to see such a small amount of snow at the Pass. It's been a dreadful
year for the ski resorts there.
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I've included
a picture of one of our personal landmarks, as we head east towards
the town of Vantage We laugh every time we see it.
Ever try to
say "Thorp Fruit" three times in a row, quickly? We
try, every time we pass it.
The area is
full of names I love to say, like "Kittitas" and "Cle
Elum".
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At
Vantage, we crossed the beautiful Columbia River and continued east
towards Othello and the Columbia River Wildlife Refuge, where the
cranes had been seen last week. |
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I won't keep
you in suspense, we saw not one single Sandhill Crane. It seems
they had left for greener pastures during the week.
Speaking of
pastures, many free range cattle used the roadside areas for eating
and lounging and even strolling.
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It
was lovely to hear the pretty song of the Western Meadowlark. Such
a big song for such a small bird! They were all over the place,
singing loudly and often. |
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Magpies
were abundant as well and as usual were extremely skittery. This
one sat still long enough for me to snap his picture and then flew
off rapidly. |
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The ponds
at the Wildlife Preserve were full of small diving ducks. We'd
hoped to see an egret or a heron or even a pelican but no such
luck.
We heard and
saw a number of redwinged blackbirds like this one here.
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