A belated report from last weekend prompted by Dennis's report of latish
Caspian Tern which was also encountered on the Walla Walla River Delta last
weekend (Denny's seemed somewhat surprised so I assume was considered late
by them as well at that location). Also not in the report below were 30
Pectoral Sandpipers at Dodd-Iowa Beef ponds (and probably a few other
things!)

Charles.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles Swift" <charless at moscow.com>
To: "inland birders" <inland-nw-birders at uidaho.edu>
Sent: Monday, September 30, 2002 4:23 PM
Subject: [inland-NW-birders] 9/28 - 9/29 Lower Columbia Basin area


> Over the weekend, Deb and I were in Lower Columbia Basin area as Deb was
> attending a college reunion in Walla Walla.
>
> On Saturday morning I birded with Mike & Merry Lynn Denny in Walla Walla
> County and learned some of their hot spots. We explored the fields west of
> Walla Walla on down to the Columbia R. where we birded the Walla Walla
River
> Delta and then north to the Iowa Beef ponds. It was a warm day and we saw
a
> lot of birds although none of the hoped-for rarities such as Sabine's Gull
> or jaegers.
>
> On Sunday Deb and I explored the Yakima River Delta near Richland with her
> brother and his wife who we were visiting in Richland. We hiked around the
> natural area along the Yakima R. west of the delta and then scoped the
delta
> area from Columbia Ave. and Columbia Park. With the front pushing through
on
> Sunday there were a good number of birds moving. It was quite windy on
> Sunday and a bit dusty but we found some nice birds and enjoyed the
> fall-like weather. Most notable was an adult Peregrine Falcon on the
delta.
> It sat on a mud flat for quite a while and then hazed the ducks and
> shorebirds near us putting on quite a show.
>
> These are both excellent birding areas and it was nice to spend some time
> exploring the area.
>
> Walla Walla Co., 9/28
>
> fields south west of Walla Walla
> Common Snipe ~30
> Killdeer ~100
> Cooper's Hawk
> American Pipit - lots
> also flocks of blackbirds, sparrows (WC, Savannah, and Song), some
Red-tails
> and N. Harriers, and a Say's Phoebe
>
> Walla Walla River delta area
>
> White Pelican ~30
> Killdeer
> Semipalmated Plover
> Long-billed Dowitcher
> Black-bellied Plover - seen by Mike and Merry Lynn
> Herring Gull
> Caspian Tern - adult and imm.
>
> Dodd-Iowa Beef Rd. ponds
>
> Eared Grebe
> lots of puddleducks, coots
> Greater Yellowlegs
> Lesser Yellowlegs
> Long-billed Dowitcher
> Dunlin - this bird stumped us for a while and is a bit early
> Western Sandpiper
> ** Franklin's Gull - 5, up to 8 have been present for several weeks
> according to Mike
> Bonaparte's Gull
>
> Yakima River Delta area, 9/29
>
> in the Russian Olives west of the delta were lots of American Robins,
> Yellow-rumped Warblers, a few WC Sparrows, BC Chickadees, a few sharpies
and
> red-tails overhead, C. Quail, and a single Barn Owl flushed
>
> White Pelican
> DC Cormorant
> lots of puddleducks (wigeon, gadwall, gw teal, pintail) and coots
> ** Peregrine Falcon - adult
> Greater Yellowlegs
> Lesser Yellowlegs
> Long-billed Dowitcher
> Bonaparte's Gull - 2
>
> thanks, Charles.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Charles E. Swift
> Moscow, ID, USA
> charless at moscow.com
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>
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