Subject: Black Tern in Yakima County - 12 August
Date: Aug 12 15:19:51 2000
From: Andy Stepniewski - steppie at nwinfo.net


Tweeters,

All this talk on Tweeters of a Curlew Sandpiper has gotten me jealous, but
unfortunately I can't make it out to the coast soon. So...I hit some Yakima
County shorebird sites: Grandview Sewage Lagoons, Satus Wildlife Area, and
the marshes at the south end of Lateral A (west of Toppenish). An adult
Black Tern at the large pond at the south end of Lateral A was my first for
Yakima County; surprisingly this is a rare species in this area, as compared
with the central Columbia Basin or Okanogan.

Grandview was the best site for shorebirds, but a flooded field (for cattle
grazing) on the south side of Marion Drain Rd. (west of Old Goldendale Road)
was a close 2nd.

Interesting mammals included Yellow-bellied Marmots at Grandview, two adult
and two 3/4 grown Raccoons romping about the bulrush marsh and two Mink
running on a canal bank and swimming in the sloughs, both at the south end
of Lateral A.

Bird Species list:
G - Grandview
S - Satus
T - Toppenish Creek at south end Lateral A

Pied-billed Grebe - G, T
Double-crested Cormorant - S, T
American Bittern - T
Great Blue Heron - T
Black-crowned Night-Heron - T
Turkey Vulture - G, S, T
Wood Duck - S
Green-winged Teal - S
Mallard - G, S, T
Blue-winged Teal - G, S, T
Cinnamon Teal - G
Northern Shoveler - G, S, T
Gadwall - G, S
Redhead - G
Lesser Scaup - T
Bufflehead - G
Ruddy Duck - G
Northern Harrier - S, T
Red-tailed Hawk - G, S, T
American Kestrel - S, T
Ring-necked Pheasant - G
California Quail - G, S, T
Sora, S
American Coot - G, S, T
Killdeer - G, S, T
Black-necked Stilt - G, 20+ total, 70% juveniles.
Lesser Yellowlegs - G, S, T
Spotted Sandpiper - G, S
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 1 at G
Western Sandpiper - 15 at G
Least Sandpiper - 30 at G; 15 at T
Long-billed Dowitcher - 2 at G; 2 at T
Wilson's Phalarope - 1 at G
Red-necked Phalarope - 15 at G
Black Tern - 1 at T
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove - Scads about recently mowed fields at T. Assembling for the
upcoming "hunting" season
Great Horned Owl - 1 at T
Common Nighthawk - 1 at T
Belted Kingfisher - T
Downy Woodpecker - T
Northern Flicker - T
Western Wood-Pewee - S, T
Willow Flycatcher - T
Western Kingbird - S, T
Eastern Kingbird, G, S, T
Horned Lark - 5 on short grass fields along Marion Drain Rd.
N. Rouggh-winged Swallow - T
Bank Swallow - T
Barn Swallow - G, S, T
Black-billed Magpie - G, S, T
American Crow - T
Common Raven - T
Black-capped Chickadee - T
Marsh Wren - T
American Robin - T
Cedar Waxwing - T
European Starling - 500 in flooded fields along Marion Drain Rd.
Black-headed Grosbeak - S
Savannah Sparrow - T
Song Sparrow - S, T
Red-winged Blackbird - S, T
Western Meadowlark - S
Brewer's Blackbird - 350+ in flooded fields along Marion Drain Rd.
House Finch - T
American Goldfinch - S, T