Glad to see that someone else has discovered the area we call Midway. (The
substation near the beginning of the road and the town that was once there
were called Midway.) The road goes from Highway 24, to just past the Priest
Rapids Dam, about 10 miles. The first 7 or so miles are in Benton county,
the remainder is in Yakima county for those who keep track. There isn't any
sign marking the change.

Last July 11, after Ruth Fischer and I went out to observe the reported
Mockingbird pair at the Vernita site and discovered the juvenile (north of
the Vernita Bridge, 2 miles west on Rt 243), we birded along Midway. There
is a grove of trees just before the substation that had at least 60 Common
Nighthawks roosting in them. We also found at least 5 Loggerhead Shrike
along the road.

Bill and I returned to the area because we had been trying to find Canyon
Wren in Benton county. We found one. Rock Wren, Chukar, Lark Sparrows, and
Say's Phoebes were observed also. We all decided that this would be a good
place to check in the spring.

Ruth and Phil Bartley made one of the first visits this spring on 3/10.
Their best birds were 11 migrating Mountain Bluebirds, 4 Prairie Falcons, 2
Canyon Wrens and Say's Phoebes.

Bob Woodley, Ruth Fischer, and I returned to Midway this Tuesday, 4/9. We
were specifically looking for White-throated Swift. This bird has rarely
been seen in Benton county as there is limited high cliff habitat. People
have looked for swifts across the Columbia River from the Wallula Gap area,
but there is little or no access to the cliffs on the Benton county side
there.

We did find the swifts. There were approximately 30, 5.5 miles in. We
observed swifts earlier, but they were flying above the cliff and against
the sky, they appeared totally dark. We were frustrated that they would not
cross the cliffs on our side and we could not tell what the tail shape was.
At the 5.5 mile location, the birds crossed the face of the cliffs and they
were clearly White-throated.

We also observed 3 Turkey Vultures. These birds have usually only been seen
singly and have only been seen in the range of 10 times in Benton county.
Golden-crowned Kinglets were migrating through and were observed all along
the route.

We will be visiting this area again soon, as we hope to find some of the
summer sparrows there. The sage isn't the best quality, but we think we
will find Brewer's, Vesper, and Lark Sparrows and have a slim hope of
finding Sage Thrasher.

-Nancy

>For anyone wanting to see chukars, they are just about a sure bet now along
>the Columbia River downstream of Priest Rapids dam. From the Vernita Bridge
>(approx 10 mi S of Priest Rapids), go west about a mile. Turn north on the
>only road, drive past the Hanford property, and past the orchard area, and
>watch for the chukars along the road for the next 6 or 7 miles. Should see
>several pairs there.
>
>Dave Nunnallee
>dnun461 at ecy.wa.gov
>Bellevue, WA
>
>


Bill and Nancy LaFramboise
Richland, WA
wlafra at oneworld.owt.com