Hi Tweets:
Charlie Wright & I co-led a field trip to Vantage Sat, March 17 in ideal
weather conditions (partly cloudy, no wind). Our large group left Auburn
after 6AM, getting off I-90 at CleElum, and jogging north on SR 970 for 5
miles, turning right on Hidden Valley Road. About 3/4 mile up the road we
saw Mt Chickadee, Cassin's Finch, Mt Bluebird, and Western Bluebird. Then
we returned toward I-90, turning east at the Teanaway Y onto SR 10. About
1 mile down the road we stopped at the Teanaway Bridge, where we hoped to
see 2 nesting American Dippers who had been building a nest under the bridge
support. But we missed the Dippers. We continued down the canyon along the
Yakima River looking for raptors, seeing many Bald Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks,
Common Ravens, and the silhouette of a large soaring falcon, probably a
Prairie Falcon. At our turnout, in the rock cliffs above the road, we
watched a Say's Phoebe flying in and out of the rock crevices.
We turned off SR 10 at Thorpe Rd, driving through a beautiful valley to
I-90. On I-90 we drove east toward the first Ellensburg Exit, stopping at a
pond before that exit at mile marker 105. On the right side of the highway
there is a large pond with many birds. We saw several Tundra Swans, 2
Trumpeter Swans, an Eared Grebe starting to get its breeding plumage, and
several species of waterfowl. Then we had lunch at a pond in amongst the
minimarts and motels at exit 106. After lunch, we went back out to I-90 and
continued east, skirting around Ellensburg.
We turned left at exit 115, driving north through the town of Kittitas, and
turned east on the Old Vantage Highway. Along that road in the Quilomene
NWLA between mile markers 21 and 22 we observed Sage Sparrows and heard them
singing. Down at the bottom of that road, we went into Ginkgo State Park,
which is on the bluff above the Columbia River at Vantage. We looked down
at many basking Yellow-bellied Marmots which had recently emerged from
hibernation. A Say's Phoebe was flying about the park, and a Common Loon in
almost total breeding plumage was down in the river. Then we drove down to
the river in the area just north of the park under the bluff, and about 200
yds. up from the river, above the road on the rocks, we watched and listened
to a Rock Wren. It was warm down there and there was no wind. A Prairie
Falcon flew by and we all got good looks at its black wingpits (axillars).
We did not see any Chukars,
or relocate the White-throated Sparrow that Charlie had seen down there 5
days before.
>From Vantage we drove across the Columbia on I-90, exiting across the bridge
onto SR 243 going south. We drove south to Beverly, turning east at the
wildlife viewing signs and driving toward Lower Crab Creek. Driving past
the 4-wheel driving area and past the dunes on the right, we turned left at
the 2nd Crab Creek access point, where the thickets are burned. There is a
wetland there. We saw many Yellow-rumped Warblers there, both Audubon &
Myrtle, and Charlie flushed a Long-eared Owl in the thicket. We all watched
while he did this, and one of our folks saw where the owl landed in the
thicket. We set up scopes and everyone got good looks at this owl. In
another part of the thicket a Great-horned Owl was flushed, but it flew away
from the group.
>From Lower Crab Creek, we drove back out to the highway, and north to SR 26.
We drove east past Royal City and started to see Sandhill Cranes overhead.
Near mile marker 13 we all turned right on a dirt road and looked at a large
grass field with hay bales under a tarp and a large circle-irrigator. We
did not relocate the Barn Owl that had been seen on and in the hay bales 5
days before. But viewing out into the field almost under the wheels of the
irrigator we saw 3 Long-billed Curlews. From here we drove east and turned
north on SR 262 (the road to Potholes State Park). It was after 5PM. Not
far
up the road we saw hundreds of Sandhill Cranes in the field to the east;
landing, calling, feeding and displaying in a stubble field. We watched
until quite late.
Thanks to all the pre-trip tips we had received from Fred Boesche, Bob
Sundstrom, Brian Bell, and others, and to our alert participants, we
observed
70 species. Here is our trip list of birds seen & heard.
-----------------------
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Tundra Swan
Trumpeter Swan
Canada Goose
Green-winged Teal
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Common Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
American Kestrel
Prairie Falcon
California Quail
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Long-billed Curlew
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Long-eared Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Say?s Phoebe
Steller's Jay
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Violet-green Swallow
Blk-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Rock Wren
Western Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
American Robin
Varied Thrush
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
(Audubon's & Myrtle)
Spotted Towhee
Sage Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Wht-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Cassin?s Finch
House Finch
Red Crossbill
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Evening Grosbeak
House Sparrow
-----------------------------
Carol Schulz
DesMoines
linusq at worldnet.att.net