Subject: Wenas and the Potholes this weekend
Date: May 19 10:51:56 2003
From: Charlie Wright - charlie at birdwright.com


Hey birders,

On Friday afternoon (5/16) Ryan Shaw, Tracey Norris, Tim Perkins, and
myself drove over the pass for some birding on the dry side. We first
birded along Umptanum Road. Near Durr Road we had the usual sagebrush
specialties of Sage Thrashers, Brewer's and Vesper Sparrows, etc. More of
the same along the rest of the road, until we got into the trees. In just a
couple of trees along the road there were about a dozen Bullock's Orioles,
and more elsewhere. Once we got into the ponderosa pines, three Blue Grouse
could be heard hooting softly and a Gray Flycatcher was calling. We set up
tents in the campground, noticing that Veerys have yet to arrive. An adult
Dipper plus two young, fully fledged birds were in Wenas Creek. After
sunset we walked from the campground up Dry Creek Road. We lucked out this
night since the wind died down just in time for owling. At the very
beginning of the road we heard two Western Screech-Owls calling within the
campground. A Great Horned was hooting in the CG as well. Further up the
road past Dry Creek, we began hearing Common Poorwills. During the night we
probably heard about ten of them calling all over. We tried for a long time
on the ridge to find Flammulated Owls, but failed to find any in a couple of
hours. So ended our first night.

Woke up in the morning Saturday to a bit of frost on the ground and
still clear skies. Hiked up Hog Ranch Ridge and had a nice course in
empidonax ID with Hammond's and Dusky calling almost side-by-side. We were
very surprised to see no wood-pewees or Western Kingbirds at all in Yakima
County, where they're abundant once they have arrived. A pair of
White-headed Woodpeckers and a Red-naped Sapsucker were on the slope near
the campground. While driving down Audubon Road from the campground in a
patch of aspen, I noticed a grouse fly across the road and we quickly pulled
up to a tame Ruffed Grouse. Another Ruffed was heard drumming as we watched
the first one eating aspen leaves. Next stop was Hardy Canyon, where there
were excellent numbers of warblers and other migrants. Most birds were
Nashville Warblers, many dozens of them. There were also lots of empids,
the majority Dusky with some Hammond's and a couple unIDed. We drove back
to the campground trying to get better views of White-headed Woodpeckers,
but to no avail. We planned to go north to the Liberty area for some more
owling, but driving down Umptanum Road we noted very ominous black clouds in
that area. We didn't feel bad changing our plans slightly, instead turning
east on I-90 and heading to Wilson Creek. A couple of hours later we were
at the overlook at Road 22 NE. There were large numbers of blackbirds in
the marsh, mostly Yellow-headed but with many Tricolored and Red-winged
mixed in. Numerous Soras were calling in the marsh, as well as one Virginia
Rail. Quite a few Long-billed Dowitchers and some Avocets were in the area.
We then camped at Potholes State Park.

The state park was pretty productive in the morning yesterday, and we
finally saw some Western Wood-Pewees and Western Kingbirds. An adult Great
Horned Owl and its fully grown chick were perched next to each other in
plain sight. We then moved to the Dodson/Frenchman Hill Rd ponds, where the
usual stilts, Cinnamon & Blue-winged Teal, and Wilson's Phalaropes were
seen. Two pairs of Canvasbacks were also present. A single Burrowing Owl
was sitting just outside of the burrow on Frenchman Hill Rd. The only
unexpected bird here was a late Solitary Sandpiper seen in flight just south
of Dodson Road. Next stop was at the Corfu Woods where we found the usual
migrants, mainly Wilson's Warblers. A male Lazuli Bunting perched up nicely
and sang for us. There was also a pair of Great Horned Owls with two young
here. On our way back we stopped at the Trendwest road near Roslyn in
Kittitas County, where we had nice views of displaying Calliope
Hummingbirds. Also in the area were a Black-throated Gray Warbler (local in
eastern Washington) and several cooperative Cassin's Vireos.

Cheers and good birding.
--
Charlie Wright
Sumner, WA
charlie at birdwright.com