With spring comes color and song as Long-billed Curlews perform courtship rituals, and Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds nest and raise chicks. Pumpkinseed Sunfish attrack avian fish-eaters, and ducks attract raptors. ADA trail, viewing blinds. See the Coulee Corridor of the Great Washington State Birding Trail.

Area Birding

HABITAT: 600+ acres of US Bureau of Reclamation/Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife Desert Wildlife Area sand dunes covered with rabbitbrush, plus marshes.

BIRDING: Spring arrives with color and song:  Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds come to nest and raise their young.  Watch and listen for Long-billed Curlews' courtship flights.  Pumpkinseed Sunfish attract Caspian and Forester's Terns, Black-crowned Night-Herons, Great Blue Herons, and Great Egrets.  Listen for 'pumping calls' of American Bitterns.  Common breeding ducks are Redheads, Mallards, Cinnamon Teals, Ruddy Ducks, and possible Canvasbacks. During summer, watch for soaring Swainson's Hawks.

VIEWING: Reach three viewing blinds, one handicapped-accessible, via 1.1-mile loop trail from parking lot.

ACCESS: At intersection of Dodson Rd and Frenchman Hills Rd, turn north onto Dodson Rd.  Drive 7.5 miles.  Turn right (east) onto Rd 1 SW.  Turn right (south) immediately onto the unnamed gravel road with a Nature Trail sign.  Drive 0.2 mile to the parking lot.