The last of the migrants to Northeastern Washington (Stevens and
Pend Oreille County) arrived right on time. The OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER was
first heard on May 28 and the COMMON NIGHTHAWK was heard on June 2. Both
birds are here in large numbers now so spring migration is pretty much over.
Now it is on to nesting. So far, the only fledglings I've seen have
been EUROPEAN STARLINGS, HOUSE SPARROWS, and DARK-EYED JUNCOS. I know of a
CHIPPING SPARROW nest in Stevens County that should fledge today. I have
found several HAIRY WOODPECKER nests with nestlings calling from deep inside
the hole. The VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS appear to be incubating nests in the
holes in the roof of our field house.
The hummingbirds have finally found some natural foods and aren't
draining my feeders as fast as before. During the peak of the last cold
spell around Chewelah, the hummers where emptying my 16 oz. feeder in less
than 48 hours (one time they did it in 24 hours). It was not uncommon to
see six females of two different species (Rufous and Calliope) at the feeder
(two would be waiting for an open perch). I tried adding more feeders but
they seem to like this one the best (more cover around the feeder). Many of
the females are sporting rather large brood patches.
I found a potential new use for slash piles. On a timber cut near
our field house, a male ROCK WREN set up a territory in a slash pile in
Stevens County. It is a rather large slash pile and there really are no
rock slopes in the immediate area. He was singing loud and clear last time
I visited him (about a week ago) but I haven't seen another Rock Wren there.
So far this season, the bird activity seems to be pretty normal.
Most species have returned to traditional sites in roughly the same numbers
as the last few years. One exception is the RED CROSSBILL which seems to be
in very low numbers in northeastern Washington. I know they are an
irruptive species so this may just be a bad year for the cone crop. They
have gone from one of the most common birds to one of the rarest in one
year. However, I hear that they have been spotted in areas well south of
their normal range. There is even a rumor of one nesting in Kansas if you
can imagine! Not very many pine there.
The only other thing that seems to be behind schedule is waterfowl
nesting. For the last four years, I have made regular trips (at least once
a week) to Big Meadow Lake, Pend Oreille Co., WA. This is usually a great
place to watch broods of BARROW'S and COMMON GOLDENEYE, BUFFLEHEAD, HOODED
MERGANSER, and RING-NECKED DUCKS. This year, I have only seen one brood, a
MALLARD, and they were very young. On my last trip there, there were no
goldeneyes, only one male Bufflehead and all of the Ring-necks were still in
pairs. It is possible that the goldenyes and bufflehead females are
incubating and that is why I didn't see any. I will keep up on the situation.
Big Meadow Lake is also a great place for a wide variety of birds.
In two days there I heard COMMON SNIPE winnowing, VIRGINIA RAIL and SORA
calling from the cattails, and YELLOW WARBLERS, DUSKY FLYCATCHERS,
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHES and SWAINSON'S THRUSHES
singing in the campground. A short walk takes you to a viewing platform
over a willow marsh where you can hear WILLOW FLYCATCHERS, YELLOW WARBLERS,
COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, and SONG SPARROWS. The walk to the platform or
anywhere along the lake shore takes you into the mature forest where you can
hear GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS, VARIED THRUSH, TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS, and
CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES. Nightfall brings the sounds of BARRED OWLS from
all around the lake. Other residents include OSPREY, SPOTTED SANDPIPER and
TREE SWALLOWS. You can reach Big Meadow Lake from either Ione (north of
Newport on Highway 2) or Colville (along the Aladdin Highway) by following
the brown signs with binoculars on them (some of which aren't labelled).
Good Birding
Deb Beutler
Washington State Univerisity
Pullman, Whitman Co., WA
dbeutler at wsunix.wsu.edu