I went on the WOS field trip to eastern Washington this past Saturday, lead
by Andy Stepniewski. We covered a bit of Kittitas and a large part of Grant
county; from Ellensburg over to Vantage, down to Sentinel Gap, up through
Ephrata and Soap Lake to Lake Lenore and Dry Falls, a little loop into
Douglas County on Rt 17, then back to Dry Falls Dam, and finished up at
Wilson Creek.
Best Bird of the Day:
Ferruginous Hawk by Wilson Creek. I have seen them before in Arizona, but
not the killer scope views we had on this trip.
Best Bird Observation of the Day:
At Dry Falls we could look down from the Interpretive Center and watch a
Common Goldeneye foraging under water. It would swim tilted downward, paddle
with its feet and cut a path through the sediment on the bottom with its
bill. Very cool.
ID challenge of the Day (for me anyway):
A mixture of Horned and Eared Grebes in both winter and breeding plumage at
distant scope range. They put the hurt to me as I tried to sort them out,
their frequent disappearances underwater didn't help any, either. There
aren't too many places in the US where you can see both species in both
plumages, it was quite a treat.
Best Experience of the Day:
The realization of what a great group of people were on the trip. There were
some old acquaintances and new faces, and experience level varied somewhat,
but everyone was upbeat, positive, and glad to be out enjoying the world.
Andy did a great job of leading, like most of the top birders I know he is a
very unassuming person.

The trip list for the group was around 75 species, I must have missed a few.

SPECIES SEEN
>From 4/1/2000 to 4/3/2000 ~ All Places ~ 66 seen
GREBES
Pied-billed Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
CORMORANTS
Double-crested Cormorant
PELICANS
American White Pelican
DUCKS, SWANS, GEESE
Ruddy Duck
Canada Goose
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
Gadwall
Green-winged Teal
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Merganser
HERONS, EGRETS AND BITTERNS
Great Blue Heron
HAWKS, EAGLES AND KITES
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk
Golden Eagle
FALCONS AND CARACARAS
American Kestrel
Prairie Falcon
PHEASANTS, GROUSE, QUAIL AND TURKEYS
Ring-necked Pheasant
WOOD-PARTRIDGES
California Quail
RAILS AND COOTS
American Coot
SANDPIPERS
Long-billed Curlew
AVOCETS AND STILTS
Black-necked Stilt
PLOVERS AND LAPWINGS
Killdeer
GULLS AND TERNS
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Herring Gull
PIGEONS AND DOVES
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
OWLS
Burrowing Owl
SWIFTS
White-throated Swift
WOODPECKERS
Northern Flicker
CROWS AND JAYS
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
THRUSHES
Mountain Bluebird
American Robin
MOCKINGBIRDS AND THRASHERS
Sage Thrasher
STARLINGS
European Starling
WRENS
Rock Wren
Canyon Wren
Marsh Wren
SWALLOWS
Violet-green Swallow
Cliff Swallow
CHICKADEES, TITS
Black-capped Chickadee
SISKINS, CROSSBILLS AND ALLIES
House Finch
BUNTINGS, SPARROWS, TANAGERS, ALLIES
Song Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Sage Sparrow
BLACKBIRDS, GRACKLES, ORIOLES
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
////---- STATISTICS ----/////
Species seen - 66


Jack Stephens
Edmonds, WA
jsteph02 at sprynet.com