We left Walla Walla this morning in warm calm weather and headed for Wanapum
Dam and Vantage. The yellow-billed Loon was not present below the Dam when
we arrived about 10:30am. We birded our way around to the west side of the
Dam and there found 2 loons. One we thought might be the Yellow-billed Loon
but weren't quite sure. We could tell that there were a couple of loons on
the other side so returned to the east side of the river. We identified 2
common loons there and decided to try the west side again. The
Yellow-billed Loon was about 20 yards from the shore when we arrived and we
watched it for some time. The markings were easily seen. It had the typical
bill shape and color and the slightly raised bill posture. We were impressed
how the coloring of the back was different than the immature common loon
that we saw.

Other sightings:

Horned grebe
Pied-billed grebe
Greater scaup
Lesser scaup
Bufflehead
Common goldeneye
Rudy duck
Canvasback
Redhead
Rock wren
Downy woodpecker
Canada goose

John and Sue Rogers
College Place, WA
mailto:johrog at bmi.net