Hey Tweeters & Inland NW,

Sorry for the day-late post. On Friday
evening Ryan Shaw, Tracey Norris, and I
drove over the mountains for a long day
of birding on Saturday. We stayed in
Othello that night, and waking up at sunrise
we headed to Windust Park in eastern Franklin
County. There was a bit of activity here,
but nothing outstanding so we moved on
eventually. Palouse Falls was similarly
productive for a diversity of migrants.
At Lyons Ferry Park, we covered some good
flocks around the parking lot before
trudging out to the islands. It was rather
hot here, 95-100 and by the time we were
back to the car we had had enough sun to
last a lifetime. On the island, there was
an apparent lack of birds at first glance,
so we were thinking about leaving. But I
decided to wander off and check one more
clump of trees. While I was still quite
a distance away I raised my binoculars to
a "Baypoll" Warbler working its way up the
trunk. Ryan and Tracey hurried to the tree,
and over the next 15 minutes we had satisfying
views of a BLACKPOLL. This location continues
to produce rarities. Our final stop of the
day for passerines was at Bassett Park in Adams
County, which seemed a bit cooler than Lyons
and was good for empids as usual.

The afternoon was spent looking for shorebirds
at various areas including Washtucna sewer
ponds, Hatton Rest Area, Para/McCain's Ponds,
and Lind Coulee the latter site was by far the
best, and evening light helped us as well.

99 species:
Blue-winged Teal (12)-Para Ponds.
Cinnamon Teal (15)-Para Ponds.
Northern Pintail (1 female)-Para Ponds.
American White Pelican (2)-Para Ponds.
Great Egret (3)-Lind Coulee.
Osprey (1)-Windust Park.
Swainson's Hawk (1)-near Othello
Virginia Rail (1)-Washtucna sewer pond
American Avocet (2)-McCain Potato Ponds;
(5)-Lind Coulee.
Greater Yellowlegs (5)-McCain Ponds;
(10)-Lind Coulee.
Lesser Yellowlegs (12)-McCain Ponds;
(15)-Lind Coulee.
Solitary Sandpiper (2)-McCain Ponds.
Spotted Sandpiper (6)-Hatton Rest Area;
(1)-Lind Coulee.
Semipalmated Sandpiper (20+)-Lind
Coulee.
Western Sandpiper (8)-Washtucna sewage
pond; (20)-McCain Ponds; (160)-Lind Coulee.
Least Sandpiper (2)-Washtucna sewage
pond; (10)-McCain Ponds.
Baird's Sandpiper (2)-Washtucna sewage
pond; (3)-Hatton Rest Area; (64)-Lind
Coulee.
Pectoral Sandpiper (1)-Washtucna sewage
pond; (5)-McCain Pond; (37)-Lind
Coulee.
Long-billed Dowitcher (4)-McCain Pond;
(10)-Lind Coulee.
Wilson's Snipe (1)-Hatton Rest Area;
(5)-McCain Pond; (10)-Lind Coulee.
Wilson's Phalarope (5)-Lind Coulee.
Red-necked Phalarope (80)-Lind Coulee.
Caspian Tern (4)-Windust.
tern, spp. (2)-Lyons Ferry.
Forster's Tern (4)-Lind Coulee.
White-throated Swift (1)-Palouse Falls.
Olive-sided Flycatcher (1)-Windust.
Western Wood-Pewee (1)-Lyons Ferry Park.
Hammond's Flycatcher (1)-Windust Park;
(4)-Palouse Falls State Park; (12)-
Bassett Park, Washtucna.
Dusky Flycatcher (1)-Bassett Park.
"Western" Flycatcher (1)-Palouse Falls;
(6)-Bassett Park.
Say's Phoebe (1)-Palouse Falls.
Cassin's Vireo (2)-Bassett Park.
Warbling Vireo (4)-Windust; (3)-Palouse
Falls; (15)-Lyons Ferry; (15)-Bassett
Park.
Red-eyed Vireo (1)-Bassett Park.
Violet-green Swallow (5)-Windust.
Bank Swallow (40)-Lind Coulee.
Red-breasted Nuthatch (1)-Palouse Falls;
(1)-Lyons Ferry.
Rock Wren (1)-Palouse Falls.
Canyon Wren (1)-Windust.
Bewick's Wren (1)-Windust; (3)-Lyons
Ferry; (2)-Bassett Park.
House Wren (1)-Windust; (1)-Bassett Park.
Golden-crowned Kinglet (1)-Palouse Falls.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (4)-Windust; (1)-
Palouse Falls; (2)-Lyons Ferry; (4)-
Bassett Park.
Townsend's Solitaire (1)-Lyons Ferry.
Hermit Thrush (1)-Palouse Falls;
(3)-Lyons Ferry.
Orange-crowned Warbler (10)-Windust;
(2)-Palouse Falls; (15)-Lyons Ferry.
Yellow Warbler (2)-Palouse Falls;
(6)-Lyons Ferry.
Yellow-rumped Warbler (60)-Windust;
(10)-Palouse Falls; (50)-Lyons Ferry; (10)-
Bassett Park.
Townsend's Warbler (2)-Palouse Falls
BLACKPOLL WARBLER (1 first basic)-Lyons
Ferry islands 1:15-1:30pm.
MacGillivray's Warbler (1)-Palouse Falls;
(1)-Bassett Park.
Common Yellowthroat (1)-Windust; (2)-Lyons
Ferry.
Wilson's Warbler (3)-Windust; (2)-Palouse
Falls; (8)-Lyons Ferry; (10)-Bassett
Park.
Western Tanager (12)-Windust; (5)-Palouse
Falls; (8)-Lyons Ferry; (15)-Bassett
Park.
Chipping Sparrow (25)-Windust; (10)-Palouse
Falls.
Vesper Sparrow (4)-Palouse Falls.
Lincoln's Sparrow (3)-Windust; (5)-Lyons
Ferry.
White-crowned Sparrow (many, widespread)
Dark-eyed Junco (1)-Windust; (1)-Palouse
Falls.
Black-headed Grosbeak (1)-Windust;
(2)-Lyons Ferry.
Pine Siskin (10)-Palouse Falls.

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