In quick succession, I made two trips to the coast to
see the Baikal Teal. Although, I dipped on the first
trip, I succeeded on the second one.

Harold and Karen Cottet joined me on the ill fated,
first attempt to see the teal. We arrived at the Smith
Brothers wetland before noon on Thursday, and stood
glumly in the pouring rain with several other birders.
Howard and Thais Armstrong of Bow, Washington and
Keith Taylor from Victoria, B.C. were some of the
other stalwarts on this unproductive vigil.

The Armstrongs surveyed many of the other nearby ponds
and had spent quite a bit of time with Keith on the
farm's dikes. However, the Baikal teal was no where to
be seen. After the Armstrongs left, Keith and my party
tried the original Kent Ponds site where the bird had
been discovered last December. We observed the same
mix of waterfowl (Green-winged Teal, Ame. Wigeon, No.
Shoveler, Pintail, etc.) that we had seen previously.

Back on 277th, we sifted through hundreds of ducks
pushed up by over flying Bald Eagles, but still could
not find our quest bird. On Friday, Keith and my party
diligently worked the farm dikes again and scanned
through hundreds of ducks once more. By this time, we
all felt that if the bird was still around, we would
have seen it by now. Perhaps it had migrated out?

The Cottets and I left Kent around 10:30 AM and birded
back on our route home. After returning home, I read
that Keith Taylor had found the teal in a completely
new vantage point over looking a pond that was not
visible from the 277th location or the farm dikes. As
Keith surmised, the Baikal Teal probably spends quite
a bit of it's time in this secluded location.

After reading Tweeters posts that quite a few birders
had seen the Baikal Teal on both Friday afternoon and
Saturday, I decided to trek back over there myself on
Sunday. As this was on short notice, I had to do this
trip solo. This time I prepared mentally and
physically to it stick out for five days if necessary.
I couldn't allow this spectacular mega-rarity slip by
without my seeing it.

Armed with a detailed set of Tweeters posts, I arrived
at the 277th site just before noon on Sunday (April
10th). Upon my arrival, a pair of Oregon birders were
intently scanning the marsh, but nothing had been seen
that day. Curious locals, and few more birders
drifted in.

While futilely scanning the ponds with my Questar, I
was beginning to develop a bad case of deja vu. Here
we go again , more Green-winged Teal, No. Shoveler,
Gadwall, Pintail, coots and no Bald Eagles to stir
them up. After chatting with Dennis Jones of Everett
and Rolan & Kathleen Nelson of Fircrest, I pulled out
the directions to the hillside vantage point that
Keith Taylor had well described. While the Oregon
birders (Ted Burger and Jeff Dillon of Portland)
remained on 277th, Dennis, the Nelsons, and I headed
up the hill.

Before I had even set up my scope, Rolan was on a
strange duck with multiple, bright white stripes. When
I focused my Questar on Rolan's duck, I could see the
mustard colored cheeks as well as the white striping
on the flanks of this bird. This was it!

I radioed the Oregon birders and informed them that we
had the Baikal Teal in sight. Fortunately, the teal
was on the pool nearest to our location and provided
all of us with some nice views. While we were
obtaining quite satisfactory views, Dennis made
arrangements with one of the downslope homeowners to
allow us to view the bird at closer range.

The homeowner Ed and his dog Daisy gave us a warm
welcome and graciously allowed us to view this
gorgeous duck from a commanding viewpoint in his back
yard. After Dennis left, he sent up quite a few other
birders up to this house, and everyone enjoyed
excellent views of this fancy duck.

Most of the time, the teal slowly fed close to shore
with it's head submerged. Sometimes a raptor would
cause the teal to become alert, and it would raise
it's dark crest that was outlined with a white
supercillium that formed a distinct V on the back of
it's crown. At one point, the Baikal Teal was briefly
chased by a Green-winged teal and caused it to fly a
short distance. However, it remained in this secluded
"secret" pond.

After everyone but Ted, Jeff, and I had left, the teal
moved farther out into the open (without any
obstructing vegetation), and began vigorous preening.
The sky brightened and sun could be seen through the
gauzy overcast. As the teal was positioned itself
almost completely out of the water, we beheld
fantastic views of this exquisite creature. While the
first couple of long blade-like scapulars were mostly
salmon colored, the next four were snowy white. Two
broad white bars divided the body into three different
color sections: black in the rear, blue gray in the
center, and peachy pink on the breast. The intricate
facial pattern resembled a jigsaw puzzle of metallic
green and creamy buff sections bordered with black and
white.

After the preening session ended, the teal tucked in
it's head and began snoozing. After viewing the Baikal
Teal for two hours, I departed and trekked homeward.

Special thanks to all the Tweets who posted their
Baikal sightings as well as Larry Schwitters for
quickly relaying critical site info and timely
updates. Once again, I enjoyed meeting many fine folks
out in the field too.

Briefly, I will mention a few additional trip birds of
interest.

April 8th, 2005
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK -3 north of Kittitas
WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS on Hunzinger Road and Sun Lakes
S.P.
NORTHERN SHRIKE near Lake Lenore
PACIFIC LOON in basic plumage on the Grant Co. side
of the Columbia River Vantage Bridge
DUNLIN (county lifer) & AMERICAN AVOCET on Soap Lake
East Beach

Least Chipmunks at Ryegrass Pass, Mule Deer west of
Reardan, and Yellow-bellied Marmots on Sun Lakes S.P.

April 10th, 2005
STELLER'S JAY & RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD at Ed's home on the
hillside overlooking the secret pond
PRAIRIE FALCON on Potts Road south of Lamont, Whitman
County

Mule Deer -6 and Montane Vole at Revere

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA

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