Ryan Shaw and I had a big weekend of birding in southeast Washington. The
trip began with the drive over Snoqualmie Pass Friday night, arriving at
Robinson Canyon where we camped around 10:00pm. We were awoken at 3:45am by
poorwills and booming nighthawks, just in time to pack up and head east. Met
up with Steve Mlodinow and Bob Flores near Windust Park first thing in the
morning and birded with them the rest of the day. We all birded many
isolated hotspots, including Kahlotus, Sperry, Palouse Falls, Lyons Ferry,
and Central Ferry. All were really quite slow. The only abundant migrants
about were Yellow Warblers, with small numbers of Macs, Western Tanagers,
Warbling Vireos, and others. We also hit some fine riparian habitat at a
trail behind the RV Park along the Tucannon River, which was full of birds
but nothing unusual. A highlight was having a Western Screech-Owl respond to
our whistling in the heat of the day (we had a pair with downy young active
at Central Ferry as well). It was extremely hot by 2:00, at which time we
headed south.

The hummingbird feeder site along Biscuit Ridge Road was slower than it
would have been later in the evening, but we had two good ones. A female
Anna's made many visits to a particular feeder. Steve Mlodinow found an
adult female Broad-tailed Hummingbird. The rest of us had quick looks at the
Broad-tailed before Bob and Steve had to split. Less than 10 minutes later,
Ryan and I had more extended views of the bird, and we were able to
cautiously eliminate all contenders for ourselves. Unfortunately, getting
video of the bird proved to be too challenging. We headed up the road and
set up camp in the Blue Mountains (several Great Horned and a Long-eared
heard overnight, plus a Black Bear).

Ryan and I awoke at 5:30 and went up to the towhee site. We walked the 200
yards down the rolling hill to the escarpment edge, and had fine views of a
pair of Green-tailed Towhees (with another singing nearby). Other birds
there included a Red-naped and a Williamson's Sapsucker, a Blue Grouse, a
drumming Ruffed Grouse, and calling turkeys. We headed back down the road
with the windows down. At roughly 7.9 miles south of the junction at Dixie,
I heard an interesting warbler as we drove by. We pulled over and I spotted
the bird, a bright male Magnolia Warbler. It immediately flew into another
bush from the tree it had been singing in, and I had clear though distant
views for a short while. Moments later the bird flew all the way across the
valley and out of sight into several Douglas-firs. Ryan only managed views
of the yellow spot on the rump of the warbler in flight, but I was able to
see the head and the rich yellow underparts with bold black streaks and
other details. This made for a excellent weekend.

Charlie Wright
Bonney Lake, Washington