Hi Birders!

My dad and I are back from our excursion to the Westside! We weren't able
to leave Spokane until about eleven o'clock on Saturday (3/5), but still had
quite a bit of time for most things. We checked the Drumheller Rd location
in Spokane County for Sandhill Cranes, but didn't see any. The only bird of
interest was a Bald Eagle eating carrion on the hillside beyond the "marsh".
Amazingly, this was about the only disappointment of the whole trip, but we
wondered at the time if it could be a bad omen.

We took a slight detour and saw the huge blackbird flock at the north end of
Para Ponds just north of Othello. In the huge flock, we saw many TRICOLORED
BLACKBIRDS, a lifer for me. We didn't do a count, but estimated more than
50 of them among the thousands of Brewer's, Yellow-headed, and Red-winged
Blackbirds, cowbirds, and starlings.

We spent a couple hours from about 3:30 to 5:30 in the Vantage area in
Kittitas County. Upon arriving at Wanapum State Park, we met Penny and
David Koyama, and shortly thereafter, spotted the male TUFTED DUCK among the
hundreds of Greater Scaup! Not long before, a Bald Eagle had scattered
them, but they regrouped from the north end of the park to the south end out
from the picnic area. The only other Tufted Duck that we have seen was
several years ago in California. While observing the raft, my dad noticed a
scoter, that we identified as an adult or immature WHITE-WINGED SCOTER.

At about 4:45pm, we all headed south past Wanapum Dam to the Rosy-Finch
location on the cliffs. Here we had awesome views of several GRAY-CROWNED
ROSY-FINCHES on the rocks. They flew once, and there were at least 15 of
them. Great little birds!

On the Old Vantage Hwy at milepost 23 on the south side of the road, we
played the tape for SAGE SPARROWS (another lifer for me), and right away, we
had one come in close to investigate. It was really tame and allowed
excellent photographs at close-range. Later on, with the directions in the
Washington birders' guide, we easily found the Great Horned Owl roosting in
the cliff near milepost 22. When we stopped to take a few pictures of Mt.
Rainier in the sunset, we heard another Sage Sparrow chipping near the road.
We briefly saw at least two of them at this spot.

We headed over the Cascades with high hopes for the ultimate goal of the
trip - a belated try for the Olympia Redwing.


This morning (3/6), we awoke early and tried to call in a Barred Owl at the
Watershed Park in SW Olympia. After failing on this attempt, and with
better things in mind, we headed over to begin our search for the Redwing.
We arrived shortly before 7am, and started walking the streets. There were
no robins at first, but then they started flying in from somewhere to the
north. I must confess that at that time when only fifteen or so robins flew
in, we thought that it would be a really easy thing to find the Redwing. We
were wrong.

After almost two hours of sorting through the same robins in the center of
activity between 4th and 5th, from just west of Decatur to just east of
Rogers, we were starting to wonder if we'd see it after all. Then Richard
Schneider, one of our fellow searchers, pointed to a tree near us on Decatur
near 4th as we rounded the corner. There the REDWING was!!!!! We had three
short viewing periods, and everyone who was there looking got to see it, as
far as I know. I think there were 5 of us, plus the local Gene Revelas who
gave us much information and help, although he wasn't there at that time. I
was able to obtain some photos that I think turned out really well. It
looks like Richard already said exactly where it was seen. It's and awesome
bird! Needless to say, a life bird for both of us!

Instead of driving to Port Orchard, we went up into the State Capitol Forest
west of Olympia with some small hopes for Mountain Quail. None of those,
unfortunately, but we did see a Varied Thrush and heard a Hutton's Vireo.
We weren't sure how easy it would be to see the Mountain Quail, so it wasn't
much of a disappointment.

Until about 4 o'clock, we birded near Olympia and around the bay at Tacoma.
We're not sure what is considered "unusual", but I'll list the really
interesting stuff for us eastsider's.

Lesser Yellowlegs - 1 at Mud Bay west of Olympia
Mew Gulls - at Mud Bay and at American Lake between Olympia and Tacoma
Red-breasted Mergansers - 3 from Point Defiance Park at Tacoma and then at
least 1 at the log booms in Commencement Bay
Rhinoceros Auklets, Pigeon Guillemots, and Brandt's Cormorants are always
fun for us
Red-necked, Horned, Eared, Pied-billed, and Western Grebes
Lots of Barrow's Goldeneyes
Surf Scoters in many places
Marbled Murrelet - 1 seen from Brown's Point Lighthouse Park, an unexpected
lifer for both of us! I read that they are fairly reliable there just
before we drove by, so I'm glad I checked the guide! We had extended views
in good light in close scope range.
Harlequin Ducks - A pair seen from the Des Moines Marina
White-winged Scoters - Two females very close, also at Des Moines Marina

As always, we had a great trip. The ultimate goal was the Redwing, but we
had many bonuses in there too! Thanks to those who helped us along our way
and in our preparation!

Great birding!

Michael and Roger Woodruff
Spokane, WA

elkmtn5 AT asisna.com