Subject: Birding Trip Report: Yakima County, Washington on September 21, 2003
Date: Sep 21 15:42:45 2003
From: kdturley at bentonrea.com - kdturley at bentonrea.com


This report was mailed for Kerry Turley by http://birdnotes.net

Date: September 21, 2003
Location: Yakima County, Washington


I spent the day birding a large area of Yakima Co. from Sunnyside to
Wenas Lake and beyond. Shorebirds were few and far in between, but
persistance pays off. Here are the highlights with a complete list at
the end.

I had a good start at the bridge on the North end of Indian Church
Rd. at Granger where I had over 15 species in 10 minutes, including
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and PIED-BILLED GREBE.

>From there I went to the Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge where I
had 30 species including a kettle of 5 TURKEY VULTURES over the
observation deck.

Then on to the flooded pasture on Marion Drain Rd. just West of Old
Goldendale Rd. where I had 3 LESSER YELLOW LEGS and 2 WESTERN
SANDPIPERS, continuing on to Zimmerman Ponds at the South end of
Lateral "A" I found 2 RUDDY DUCK, 5 BLUE-WINGED TEAL, 2 LESSER
SCAUP.

>From there I went to Wenas Lake which now has an extensive mud flat
(so don't forget your rubber boots) where I found pretty much what
Andy S. found yesterday 4 GREAT EGRETS, 1 SURF SCOTER, 4 LESSER
SCAUP, 2 BAIRD's SANDPIPER, 1 PECTORAL SANDPIPER and about 40 VIOLET
GREEN SWALLOWS dipping down to take a drink from the lake as they
moved through, I was surprised at finding a CALIFORNIA GULL along the
Western shore.

A quick trip up Hardy Canyon resulted in watching 2 HERMIT THRUSH as
the fed on Elderberries, it was interesting how they would not land
on the Elderberry Bush but would land on the bush next to it and jump
up to neatly pluck the berries.

On the way home I stopped at the Greenway in Yakima and was treated
to 2 CEDAR WAXWING and 1 GOLD CROWNED SPARROW. Then at the pond at
Milepost 45 on I82 was 1 WESTERN GREBE.

Birds seen (in taxonomic order):

Pied-billed Grebe
Western Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-Winged Teal
Lesser Scaup
Surf Scoter
Ruddy Duck
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Ring-necked Pheasant
California Quail
American Coot
Killdeer
Lesser Yellowlegs
Western Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Common Snipe
California Gull
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Barn Owl
Great Horned Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Violet-green Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Total number of species seen: 61