Greetings,
Fred Boesche and I left early Tuesday morning and headed east on I-90 in
search of rare migrants, and perhaps a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. We made a
nice loop, driving east to Sprague, then north to Davenport and back west to
Coulee City and finally Moses Lake. The highlight for the day was finding a
fall plumaged (I think HY male) Magnolia Warbler which I had excellent views
of at the Davenport Cemetery. Apparently Jim Acton thought he saw one here
earlier in the day, but his views were inconclusive. The Black-throated Blue
Warbler was not seen, and surely has moved off. In the late evening we made
it to the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher spot just north of the intersection of
Tyndall and Randolph Road. This nice male bird flew in promptly at 6:28pm
and began catching insects from the fence surrounding the generators.
Curiously, just after sunset the bird flew back to the Moses Lake Industries
Bldg (a good 1/4 mile distance) with a grasshopper in its bill.

The incursion of conifer-dependent species continues to amaze me. Over the
course of the day I totaled 213 wayward Red-breasted Nuthatches. A more
typical tally on this kind of trip would be 10 in my experience. Other
mountain species were also dominating: 22 Mountain Chickadees; an Evening
Grosbeak at Davenport; a Cassin's Finch with a hundred siskins in
Harrington; a Purple Finch flying over the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher spot
just after sunset. More typical late September migrants were present in
expected numbers. Many of the Yellow-rumped Warblers I saw showed some hint
of introgression/integradation with Myrtle, and around half of those looked
like pure Myrtle. We ended the day with 96 species.

WINCHESTER WASTEWAY (8:20am):
Ruddy Duck (1)
Greater Yellowlegs (2)
American Pipit (20)

HATTON COULEE REST STOP (9:15-9:50):
Hammond's Flycatcher (1)
Mountain Chickadee (10)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (25)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (25)
Varied Thrush (1)
Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (30)
White-crowned Sparrow (40)

SPRAGUE LAKE/RESORT (10:50am-12:00pm):
Blue-winged Teal (8)
Western Grebe (2)
American White Pelican (7)
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Turkey Vulture (1)
Prairie Falcon (1)
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (1)
Lesser Yellowlegs (12)
Spotted Sandpiper (1)
Pectoral Sandpiper (1)
Long-billed Dowitcher (4)
Wilson's Snipe (2)
Northern Flicker (15)
Warbling Vireo (1)
Mountain Chickadee (1)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (55)
Brown Creeper (3)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (10)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (50)
Varied Thrush (4)
Orange-crowned Warbler (2)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (90)
Wilson's Warbler (4)
Pine Siskin (12)

SPRAGUE CITY PARK (12:05-12:25):
Red-breasted Nuthatch (20)
Bewick's Wren (1)
Orange-crowned Warbler (1): apparent celata-type.
Yellow-rumped Warbler (60)
Wilson's Warbler (2)

HOMESTEAD ALONG HWY 23 (12:35-12:45):
Swainson's Hawk (1)
Long-eared Owl (3)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (2)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (10)
Western Bluebird (2)
Hermit Thrush (1)
Orange-crowned Warbler (2)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (20)
Lincoln's Sparrow (1)

HARRINGTON CITY PARK (1:15-1:35):
Merlin (1m.)
Northern Flicker (8): one intergrade.
Mountain Chickadee (5)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (60)
Brown Creeper (4)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (5)
Townsend's Solitaire (1)
Varied Thrush (4)
CASSIN'S FINCH (1)
Pine Siskin (100)

DAVENPORT CEMETERY (1:50-3:35):
Sharp-shinned Hawk (1)
Red-naped Sapsucker (1)
Dusky Flycatcher (1)
Mountain Chickadee (6)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (35)
Brown Creeper (2)
Winter Wren (1)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (12)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (70)
Hermit Thrush (1)
Varied Thrush (6)
American Pipit (15)
Orange-crowned Warbler (4): one lutescens.
MAGNOLIA WARBLER (1)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (55)
Townsend's Warbler (1)
MacGillivray's Warbler (1)
Wilson's Warbler (4)
Spotted Towhee (1)
Chipping Sparrow (4)
Pine Siskin (5)
EVENING GROSBEAK (1)

SUN LAKES STATE PARK (4:55-5:15):
Red-breasted Nuthatch (15)
Hermit Thrush (2)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (30)
Townsend's Warbler (1)
Wilson's Warbler (3)
Pine Siskin (10)

ALKALI LAKE (5:20):
Great Egret (1)

SOAP LAKE (5:35):
Common Goldeneye (1)
Ruddy Duck (20)
Eared Grebe (20)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (1)-in town.

RANDOLPH X TYNDALL ROAD (5:50-6:50):
Western Meadowlark (12)
SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER (1)
Purple Finch (1)-flyover.
--
Charlie Wright
Bonney Lake, Washington