May, 2022
The other day we drove along the earth dam, and then took a road heading south in order to see all those lava rocks and lava tubes and the water potholes fed by underground waterways. Today we drove along the earth dam, and then headed north … to the very north end of the reservoir/lake. We were in search of migrating birds.
Fair warning, turns out we had missed most of the migrating birds. Those birds just didn’t get that email with the schedule they were supposed to follow!
Be we saw interesting local birds, and we saw other interesting things, and had a great day exploring lots of stuff in addition to this area. But let me show you just this one small piece of the north end of the reservoir/lake.
The image below is from Google Earth. Mardon Resort is the sold RED DOT at the bottom of the image. We drove east, then north, then west, then found the small gravel road (the RED ARROW) that took us down to the waterway (the YELLOW ARROW). The image below might be misleading in its size; it took us about an hour-and-a-half to get from Mardon Resort to the big red arrow.
And here, in the image below, is how you find the RED ARROW turn-off that then takes you down a gravel road to the north end of the reservoir/lake. You drive eastbound or westbound on Interstate 90, then find an exit that will allow access to S. Frontage Road NW, then you drive along that road until you see two giant power “poles” … one with three poles and one with two poles, and then you take the first dirt road that’s on the west side of those poles. I found those directions online on someone else’s blog. There was no sign posted at this turnoff!
RED arrow points to the power poles. Turn onto the gravel road that the YELLOW arrow points to. 🙂
Further south along that gravel road, there was this sign below. Hmm, why not put the sign up near Frontage Road?
We arrived at the reservoir after another 30 minutes or so of driving on the gravel road. Lots of water here. Lots of blue sky and white clouds. Lots of flooded land, but also lots of land still above water even at “high water”. The pieces of wood floating in the water gave the birds and other creatures access to bugs and such for food. More photos coming that show that. You can see a bit of the gravel road in the two photos below.
We kept driving, very slowly, along the road for the mile or two that it crossed the waterway and meandered around the waterway. We saw two other vehicles parked along the road in here, obviously folks who had driven in and put a small boat in the water for fishing. But in all the time we were here, we saw no other humans.
Eventually, we arrived at a closed and locked gate across the road. There was plenty of room for parking so we did that and started off on foot.
Almost immediately, we came upon another Cinnamon Teal. By now, we knew what he was. 🙂
We could hear birds … everywhere! We just couldn’t see them. Keep in mind that before the O’Sullivan Dam (the earth dam) was built that created this reservoir, this was pretty much all “dry” land. So there are many trees and shrubs that grow in the water today, but used to grow on dry land.
Take a close look at the photo below. There is a bird in it. We kept hearing chirping and fluttering, but it took us a LONG time of standing and staring at a spot, then staring at another spot, etc, before we finally found our friend. Ok, I’ll put an arrow in the photo, and then I’ll show you the little bird in photos below.
Is this a White-Rumped Swallow? Help me here.
And then a few minutes later and over along another waterway, this very brightly-colored bird appeared (below). We couldn’t get very close to it, so my photos aren’t too sharp, but you get the idea. How pretty.
I think this one might be a White-throated Swallow, except that all the photos I see of them online have a tan/brown spot right above the beak, and this little person did not.
And you may have noticed that there are LOTS of plants growing hereabouts. The one below was just coming up, just sprouting, in the spring weather of the month of May. What is it?
Up along the path even further, we found this pond off to the left. It was so peaceful here, and quiet, even with the bird song.
Upon closer inspection … more Cinnamon Teal ducks!
On our walk back to the big white truck that was waiting patiently in the parking area by the locked gate, this fellow landed just a few feet from me, just for a fraction of a second. He was fast! But I got a pretty good photo of him. 🙂
I think this is an adult Killdeer. No? Yes?
The weather during the entire trip here to the potholes area was spectacular … blue sky, warm enough for just a light jacket or a second shirt during the day, no rain. We still have another day or two here, so stay tuned for one or two more blog posts.
Yes! We would take a small boat into exactly here and go fishing on the reservoir. Spectacular, Ann, thank you! And yes, the land is “bigger” than it looks on a map. From Mardon Resort, straight north as the crow flies, up to I-90 and the north end of the reservoir is about 10 miles. And it’s probably 7 miles wide at its widest point. It’s a lot of water, especially in the spring when the lake water is high. Did you get up around Moses Lake? Or down to Othello? Or see any of the thousands of acres of fruit trees?
Wow, Nevada that’s super. I hadn’t measured the size of the reservoir. That’s huge. Standing on the earth dam and looking north out over the reservoir, I could see water forever, it seemed like, without seeing any trees growing in the water. Like you say, it’s a LOT of water.
We did drive into Moses Lake to look at something north of it, I’ve forgotten what we saw. But later I had a flat tire during the trip and got into the Les Schwab store in Moses Lake who fixed the flat for free (I carry an electric air pump with me). We drove down and into Othello too, and drove around the town, nice small town, we had lunch at a Mexican restaurant where everyone inside was speaking Spanish except us. Man that was good food! And yes, we drove through the fruit trees one afternoon, but didn’t explore them very much. They are so impressive. I’ll share a photo or two of them soon. It’s really fun to have you comment here and share your thoughts and ask questions. I like knowing someone who was right where we were on this trip, and knowing you loved it here.
Warm regards, Nevada.
Might seem odd that the road into the reservoir isn’t marked, but maybe they don’t want the ordinary tourist in there mucking everything up. I’m sure you folks were careful, quiet, didn’t toss garbage out your window, or other stupid stuff. That Killdeer is great!
I hadn’t thought of that, Steve … that the wildlife refuge folks might not want a lot of tourists in there. You bet we were careful and quiet. When I’m off in the woods or around a lake or on the side of a mountain, I always feel like I’m in someone else’s home … who would leave garbage and do other rude things when visiting someone’s home?
That Killdeer posed, I swear he posed.
Gorgeous photos. Thank you for exploring and sharing!
Thanks, Lori. You are welcome. 🙂
I need to get over there! I love Idaho, but I’m realizing there is so much to see and do in Washington. What is that plant? It has a beak on it like a bird. Super photos and info.
Yes, get over here. This year! 🙂
I hope someone reading the blog will be able to tell us what that plant is. I’ve tried to find anything even similar online and can’t.
Cinnamon Teal yes … Killdeer yes. I don’t know the other two “blue” birds. That plant looks positively, voraciously dangerous! ha! Sweet bird photos. And really great info about where you are (and how you got there) so that others can go there too.
Thanks for the confirmation, Kinny. Let’s hope someone here can tell us about the two small blue birds.
Sometimes I find myself wanting to hide places that I find fascinating, so other people won’t destroy them. But when I talk with other campers and hikers and walkers, it seems we all feel the same, and want to save these places. So I’m happy to share in hopes that other people will contribute to state and federal programs that are saving such gorgeous and unique areas on our planet, and I hope everyone who does care will go see these places. Go and take photos and share them online so I can see what I missed. 🙂
How about kayaking around the northern parts of the reservoir and seeing birds? And maybe getting those birds to read their email! 🙂
Kayaking would have been wonderful!!
Those silly birds … hey, birds, check your email!
I think you’re right about the bird varieties, except the photos I see online also have a brown spot, like you say, above the beak. Great photos tho, especially of that Killdeer, and that plant with a beak too!
That brown spot has me puzzled. I looked again online today and still can’t come up for sure with what that second blue bird is. Every bird online that looks exactly like the bird I/we saw has a brown spot right above its beak. Sigh … what is it? 🙂
I would have brought a chair with me and just sat and watched all those birds and all the other life, how wonderful.
I think I remember my friend and I thinking the same thing … why didn’t we bring chairs? Ok, next time, folding chairs will be in the back of the truck.
What fun. Where were all the other humans that should be enjoying this area? Or maybe like someone here said, they don’t want humans in there much. Yes, we’d have our chairs out too. What a delightful area.
I was quite bewildered about the lack of humans in the north reservoir area. Nevada shared that they used to go fishing right there, but I was surprised there weren’t more people out looking at birds and such … and kayaking. Indeed, it was a delightful area. More photos will be coming along from another visit here a day or so later. 🙂
Oh oh oh! Yesterday I was somewhere sooooo similar…I’ll post about it soon. I have a photo just for you!
Oh, I can’t wait! Hurry up!! 🙂
I love your blog post today, Dawn … blue birds and their own little family story. The photos are super and the dialogue is just precious. 🙂
Everyonebody …… go check out Dawn’s blog, just click on her name in the comment above.
What a peaceful place!
Indeed. Two people commenting here said they felt like bringing a chair and just sitting here. I keep comfortable folding chairs at my trailer, but in the future, they’ll be in the back of the truck!