Hi Tweets -

Had a great three days over the weekend, and this is a belated post -
details below. I started out on Friday, May 9th in Wilson Creek in
eastern Grant County. Of particular note was a pair of FERRUGINOUS HAWKs
east of Wilson Creek along Kanniwah Rd. Back around on the other side of
Crab Creek at the overlook on 22nd NE the marsh is starting to come
alive with song. RED-WINGED, YELLOW-HEADED and TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS
were all staking out territories. The Tricolored's were nicely active
with the males posing on top of young cattails. In the pond area just
upstream were several REDHEADS, RUDDY DUCKS, a male CINNAMON TEAL and
BLACK-NECKED STILT.

Later that afternoon, near the intersection of Dodson Road and Frenchman
Hill Rd. were REDHEAD, GADWALL, MALLARD, AMERICAN WIGEON, NORTHERN
SHOVELER, CINNAMON TEAL AND LESSER SCAUP. NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS
flew past. Just north of the intersection along Dodson Road there was a
BURROWING OWL at the artificial nest location.

The next day (May 10th) I participated in the Yakima County Migration
Birdathon, and explored the Yakima Training Center and Priest Rapids
Lake with Ellen Stepniewski. We started early in order to find some of
those birds who like dawn. We saved ourselves some tramping time by
flushing a GREATER SAGE GROUSE from the side of the road. We also picked
up SAGE and GRASSHOPPER SPARROW singing. As might be expected in sage
steppe habitat we had many, many BREWER'S SPARROWS and WESTERN
MEADOWLARK singing along the route, lots of HORNED LARK along the roads,
BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE and SAY'S PHOEBE. For me, discovering the wetlands
of Selah Creek and Cold Creek was most enjoyable, where we saw
BUFFLEHEAD, CINNAMON TEAL, WILSON'S SNIPE, LEWIS'S WOODPECKER,
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, HOUSE WREN and GREAT HORNED OWL. Further east
the extensive reparian along Cold Creek turned up SPOTTED TOWHEE,
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, ORANGE-CROWNED and NASHVILLE WARBLERs, HOUSE
WREN, and WARBLING VIREO, with SWAINSON'S HAWK overhead. Working our way
down the eastern slopes we discovered CHUKAR, VESPER SPARROW and
LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE. Down along the Columbia River at Priest Rapids Lake
we found LARK SPARROW, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW, approximately 600 CLIFF
SWALLOW, with COMMON MERGANSER, COMMON LOON, HORNED, EARED, WESTERN and
CLARK'S GREBES, AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, CASPIAN and FORSTER'S TERNS. As
we drove the road along the west side of the lake we found WHITE-CROWNED
SPARROW, ROCK and CANYON WREN, and a BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. As we made our
way back west we flushed a GRAY PARTRIDGE. We stopped for dinner and
enjoyed two SHORT-EARED OWLS out starting their hunting early coursing
back and forth across the grassland/sage. Back down by the Selah Creek
crossing we had a LONG-EARED OWL perched out in the open giving us some
of the best views possible. We wound up with 85 species for the two
areas. It was truly an enjoyable experience to discover the variety of
habitats on the training center, and to drive thru it while it is green.

Early the next morning (Sunday May 11th) I lead a Seattle Audubon trip
down to Gray's Harbor County. We started out at Bottle Beach, arriving
about an hour before high tide in full sunlight with the sun behind our
backs. This was a relatively low high tide so the birds were not driven
so high on the beach that they flushed and left. They were at about 50 -
75 feet away, feeling no pressure allowing us great views and plenty of
time to study them. Present were BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, SEMI-PALMATED
PLOVER, KILLDEER, WHIMBREL, DUNLIN, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, SHORT-BILLED and
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, SANDERLING, WESTERN and LEAST SANDPIPER and RUDDY
TURNSTONE. We spent far more time at the beach because the viewing
conditions were so favorable and everybody thoroughly enjoyed the time.
From Bottle Beach we made the long drive around to Ocean Shores and the
Point Brown jetty, where we saw DOUBLE-CRESTED, BRANDT'S and PELAGIC
CORMORANTS, BONAPARTE'S GULL and BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, PACIFIC LOON,
BROWN PELICAN, COMMON MURRE, PIGEON GUILLEMOT and RHINOCEROS AUKLET,
WANDERING TATTLER, SURFBIRD, SANDERLING, HARLEQUIN DUCK, and SURF
SCOTER, with a probably SOOTY SHEARWATER offshore. We had a gaggle of
gulls at Bill's Spit including WESTERN, GLAUCOUS-WINGED, RING-BILLED and
CALIFORNIA. At the Hoquiam Sewer Ponds we found both males and females
of GREATER and LESSER SCAUP side by side for a great comparison in
bright sunlight. We also saw CINNAMON TEAL, BUFFLEHEAD, NORTHERN
SHOVELER, and REDHEAD. We finished the day with 86 species.

Three long days of great birding, and about 145 species!

Brian H. Bell
Woodinville WA
bellasoc at isomedia.com


Wilson Creek/Dobson Road - 9 May 2003

White Pelican - wc
Great Blue Heron - wc
Canada Goose - wc
Gadwall - dr
American Wigeon - dr
Mallard - wc
Cinnamon Teal - wc, dr
Northern Shoveler - wc, dr
Redhead - wc, dr
Lesser Scaup - dr
Ruddy Duck - wc
Red-tailed Hawk - wc, dr
Ferruginous Hawk - wc
Virginia Rail - wc
Sora - wc
American Coot - wc, dr
Killdeer - wc
Black-necked Stilt - wc
Burrowing Owl - dr
Mourning Dove - wc, dr
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - dr
Cliff Swallow - wc
Barn Swallow - wc
Marsh Wren - dr
European Starling - wc
Red-winged Blackbird - wc, dr
Tricolored Blackbird - wc
Western Meadowlark - wc
Yellow-headed Blackbird - wc, dr
Brewer?s Blackbird - wc
House Sparrow - wc

Yakima Training Center - 10 May 2003
Great Blue Heron
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Bufflehead
Northern Harrier
Swainson?s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Chukar
Gray Partridge
Greater Sage-Grouse
California Quail
Killdeer
Wilson?s Snipe
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Long-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl
Lewis?s Woodpecker
Rufous Hummingbird
Northern Flicker
Hammond?s Flycatcher
Say?s Phoebe
Western Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
Warbling Vireo
Black-billed Magpie
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick?s Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Sage Thrasher
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon?s)
Wilson?s Warbler
Western Tanager
Spotted Towhee
Brewer?s Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Sage Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer?s Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow


Priest Rapids Lake - 10 May 2003
Common Loon
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Clark?s Grebe
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Canada Goose
Gadwall
Mallard
Greater Scaup
Common Merganser
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Prairie Falcon
Chukar
California Quail
American Coot
Killdeer
Long-billed Curlew
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Caspian Tern
Forster?s Tern
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Say?s Phoebe
Western Kingbird
Black-billed Magpie
Common Raven
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Rock Wren
Canyon Wren
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Lark Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer?s Blackbird
Bullock?s Oriole
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow


Grays Harbor - 11 May 2003
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Sooty Shearwater
Brown Pelican
Brandt?s Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Gadwall
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
Bufflehead
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
California Quail
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Wandering Tattler
Whimbrel
Ruddy Turnstone
Surfbird
Red Knot
Sanderling
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Bonaparte?s Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Western Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Caspian Tern
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Rhinoceros Auklet
Rock Dove
Great Horned Owl
Vaux?s Swift
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Warbling Vireo
Steller?s Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
American Robin
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson?s Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow