Birders' top spots: Corfu Woods and Lower Crab Creek

	ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Sandhill cranes are among the birds commonly seen at Corfu Woods and Lower Crab Creek, and are being honored this weekend with a festival in nearby Othello, Adams County.
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Habitat: Private pasture, farmland, creeks and shrub-steppe; plus 45 acres of cattail wetlands and deciduous woods managed by Columbia National Wildlife Refuge and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Best seasons for birding: Spring, summer, winter. Tomorrow through Sunday, combine a visit with the annual Sandhill Crane Festival in nearby Othello, Adams County, which offers guided tours of local birding areas (some are booked full; check Web site: www.othellosandhillcranefestival.org) along with lectures, exhibitors, food and more.

Birds commonly seen: Mid-March through mid-April, sandhill cranes and Canada geese feed in refuge fields while mallards fly overhead in clockwise swirls at dusk. Later in spring, woods attract migrating songbirds, especially warblers: Nashville, orange-crowned, Townsend's, Wilson's, yellow and yellow-rumped. Also watch for Lewis' woodpeckers, Western tanagers, four species of flycatchers and five of sparrows. Bullock's orioles and western kingbirds are common nesters. Great horned owls and downy woodpeckers live here year-round.

Viewing tips: At start of Gillis Road/Lower Crab Creek Road (private land, stay on road easement), look in row of pines for barn and long-eared owls. Along Crab Creek Road, springtime alkaline wetlands host migrating American avocets, Wilson's and red-necked phalaropes. Marsh birds include yellow-headed and red-winged blackbirds, great blue herons, black-crowned night-herons and great egrets. In summer, watch for chukars on ground and Lark sparrows in shrubs. South of Corfu Woods and adjacent to Road B Southeast/Corfu Road are mostly public lands for 3 miles. Eastern and western kingbirds, and northern (winter) and loggerhead shrikes (year-round) sit on fences; prairie falcons perch on utility poles; golden eagles soar overhead. In winter, American tree sparrows along with white-crowned, song and Savannah sparrows gather along Corfu Road. From parking area, walk across road, enter pedestrian access and skirt woods. In spring, look for long-billed curlews over refuge fields.

Getting there: From Highway 17 at Milepost 29.4, turn west onto Cunningham Road/Main Street. Drive 1.8 miles into Othello. Stop by Columbia National Wildlife Refuge office at Main and Seventh Avenue for free refuge map. (For the festival, Friday tours leave from here; Saturday and Sunday events are based at nearby Othello High School at Seventh Avenue and Hemlock Street.) To continue on your own, turn left from Main Street (south) onto First Avenue. Drive 0.9 mile. Turn right (west) onto Highway 26. Drive 8 miles. At Milepost 32.5, turn left (south) onto Gillis Road/Lower Crab Creek Road, which curves west. Drive 5.5 miles. Turn right (north) onto Road B Southeast/Corfu Road. Drive 2.5 miles to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife parking area on west (permit required; $10 wherever fishing and hunting licenses are sold). Drive north to return to Highway 26 at Milepost 26.5.

More information: Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, 509-488-2668; Othello Sandhill Crane Festival, www.othellosandhillcranefestival.org or 866-726-3445.

Source: Audubon Washington. For free maps of Washington birding sites, call 866-922-4737 and ask for Great Washington State Birding Trail maps ("Cascade Loop" or "Coulee Corridor") or request online at www.wa.audubon.org.

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