Spring on the Palouse and Snake Rivers
Spring is in the air. It was the sweet scent of blossoms drifting on the morning breeze at Lyons Ferry State Park, as well as on the wing as thousands of cliff swallows worked diligently on repairs or new construction of their nests. Tucked under the protective ledges of broken basalt columns, hundreds of hormone-infused cliff swallows brought beak-full after beak-full of mud to carefully construct their globular mud nurseries. So focused on their task, we were ignored as we approached in our Zodiacs to observe these masters of mud-based architecture. Perhaps we came a bit too close, as a few of us were christened with small rivulets of guano.
With further skyward searching we witnessed a pair of ravens in pursuit of a red-tailed hawk: the ravens took obvious exception the hawk’s proximity to their nest, which we found, tucked in a rocky niche high above the river. A second hawk flew in, this one with a snake dangling from its talons. The two hawks departed the ravens’ territory, perhaps to a nest of their own. There were sightings of ring-necked pheasant, black-billed magpie, wild turkey, prairie falcon and kestrel as well. Overall, a productive morning for feathered findings.
We left the Palouse and continued our navigation downstream on the Snake River. We passed under the railroad bridge, whose support structures were festooned with dozens of great blue heron nests. Each corner of the bridge support structure was stuffed with heron nesting materials, piled high and topped with assorted sizes of immature herons. On the bow just before entering the lock of Lower Monumental Dam we saw another red-tailed hawk with yet another snake flaccid in its talons – a good day for hungry hawks, not such a good day for at least two snakes.
In the evening we had a visit from a member of the Corps of Discovery. Sergeant Patrick Gass regaled us with tales of his journey and the invaluable contributions he made to the success of the Expedition. The two Captains were certainly fortunate to have a member so skilled and devoted to the task, if not articulate and humble as well.
Spring is in the air. It was the sweet scent of blossoms drifting on the morning breeze at Lyons Ferry State Park, as well as on the wing as thousands of cliff swallows worked diligently on repairs or new construction of their nests. Tucked under the protective ledges of broken basalt columns, hundreds of hormone-infused cliff swallows brought beak-full after beak-full of mud to carefully construct their globular mud nurseries. So focused on their task, we were ignored as we approached in our Zodiacs to observe these masters of mud-based architecture. Perhaps we came a bit too close, as a few of us were christened with small rivulets of guano.
With further skyward searching we witnessed a pair of ravens in pursuit of a red-tailed hawk: the ravens took obvious exception the hawk’s proximity to their nest, which we found, tucked in a rocky niche high above the river. A second hawk flew in, this one with a snake dangling from its talons. The two hawks departed the ravens’ territory, perhaps to a nest of their own. There were sightings of ring-necked pheasant, black-billed magpie, wild turkey, prairie falcon and kestrel as well. Overall, a productive morning for feathered findings.
We left the Palouse and continued our navigation downstream on the Snake River. We passed under the railroad bridge, whose support structures were festooned with dozens of great blue heron nests. Each corner of the bridge support structure was stuffed with heron nesting materials, piled high and topped with assorted sizes of immature herons. On the bow just before entering the lock of Lower Monumental Dam we saw another red-tailed hawk with yet another snake flaccid in its talons – a good day for hungry hawks, not such a good day for at least two snakes.
In the evening we had a visit from a member of the Corps of Discovery. Sergeant Patrick Gass regaled us with tales of his journey and the invaluable contributions he made to the success of the Expedition. The two Captains were certainly fortunate to have a member so skilled and devoted to the task, if not articulate and humble as well.
