Subject: [Tweeters] Grant County, 10/16/05
Date: Oct 17 10:41:22 2005
From: Dennis Paulson - dennispaulson at comcast.net


Hello, tweets.

Netta Smith and I took a trip to Grant County yesterday (16 Oct 05) to
try out new digiscoping equipment. We had a good birding day, with
mostly cloudy weather, temps around 60?, and 56 species, and among
them:

waterfowl - huge concentrations out on the middle of Wanapum Lake S of
Vantage; both species of scaups were the most common species; we tried
to kayak closer to them, but they wouldn't let us get within several
hundred yards; obviously hunting season, which started Saturday,
already has them very wary
Common Loon - 20 at Blue Lake (it's amazing how attractive this
particularly lake is to this species)
grebes - four species in small numbers at Wanapum Lake at Vantage -
Horned, Red-necked, Eared, and Western; saw juveniles of both
Red-necked and Eared, a distinct plumage in both species; they were the
only water birds that allowed us within photographic range from the
kayak
Am. White Pelican - 5 flying high over Wanapum Lake just S of Vantage
(seen from Kittitas County side)
American Kestrel - more common than I think they are during winter,
presumably many haven't migrated south yet
American Coot - thousands (constellations of coots )on Lake Lenore and
Wanapum Lake, hundreds on some other water bodies; I think this species
has really benefitted from the widespread introduction of watermilfoil
Black-bellied Plover - two at heronry ponds at Potholes Reservoir
Greater Yellowlegs - one at heronry ponds
Lesser Yellowlegs - two juveniles at S end Soap Lake
Pectoral Sandpiper - one juv at S end Soap Lake, one at heronry ponds
Dunlin - 4 at S end Soap Lake, 10 at N end Soap Lake
STILT SANDPIPER - juvenile at S end Soap Lake; this seems late for this
species, which has been more common than usual in the NW interior this
fall, but it's not the latest date for the state (17 Oct mentioned in
Birds of Washington)
Long-billed Dowitcher - 10 juveniles at S end Soap Lake, 5 at N end
Soap Lake, 15 at heronry ponds
Townsend's Solitaire - two together at the south section of Ginkgo
Petrified Forest SP south of Vantage
American Robin - at least 100 at the same park, the only large numbers
we saw
Western Meadowlark - still locally common in areas where I think very
few winter; presumably haven't moved south yet

We looked hard for Rough-legged Hawks, Northern Shrikes, Lapland
Longspurs, Snow Buntings, and other birds of winter but saw none,
although we drove many miles through appropriate habitats.

Least Chipmunks were incredibly abundant at the eastbound rest stop at
Rye Grass on I-90; this is the best place to see this very local
species, as they feed sunflower seeds to birds and chipmunks there.
Apparently drought conditions have brought even more than usual to the
feeding areas. The only birds we saw there were House Finches and House
Sparrows, but I've seen quite a variety of seed-eating species over the
years and seasons.

Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382