Hi Tweets,

The 11/13 Central Basin Audubon Field Trip to the upper Grand Coulee was
very productive and well attended.
Our day began at Soap Lake where we located all of the usual suspects
expected at this time of year. Birds of note at this location included a
flyby Sharp-shinned hawk and a Merlin chasing starlings at the north end of
the lake.
Lake Lenore produced several Barrow's goldeneye, which was our target bird
here and is relatively common. A nice surprise was several Greater scaup. A
flyby Bald Eagle offered nice views.
Blue Lake produced outstanding views of two immature Golden eagles and
eleven Bohemian waxwings which fed in a grove of Russian-olive.
Sun Lakes State Park gave everyone great views of two foraging Brown
creepers. Mountain chickadees were evident as well. Two adult Bald eagles
perched in the lakeside trees. Our nicest birds here was a distant view of a
PACIFIC LOON and a flyby Northern goshawk.
Coulee City Park had several species of waterbirds including two very nice
basic plumage Red-necked Grebes. Twenty Tundra Swans were another highlight
for the group.
The Steamboat Rock State Park Boat Launch had great views and studies of a
second year Bald Eagle. Since the participants were beginners it was nice to
have such a cooperative subject to learn with. Also present were more
Mountain chickadees and a single Black-capped chickadee which again offered
very good comparative views.
Gulls were strangely absent from all areas of the lake, including the
Electric City Log Booms. So we stopped at North Dam Rest Area for a time and
located several more Mountain chickadees and a single Golden-crowned
Kinglet.
A nice day and a good learning experience for all.

Doug Schonewald
Moses Lake, WA
dschone8 at donobi.net