Subject: [Tweeters] Sprague Lake/Potholes; 31 August 2005
Date: Sep 1 13:37:44 2005
From: Charlie Wright - c.wright7 at comcast.net


Greetings All
Yesterday, Carol Schulz and I headed over to eastern Washington for a full
afternoon of birding. The area of Sprague Lake was extremely productive. We
mainly concentrated around the trees at the very north tip of the lake, at
Sprague Lake Resort (there is a small fee for birding this site). The place
was loaded with migrants. That spot also has excellent shorebirds right now.
At around 12:45, we both saw an "odd junco" (our only junco of the day). I
observed some very interesting features on it in the few moments before it
flew out of sight. I returned with my video camera, but for almost 2 hours I
didn't see any other sign of the bird. Then I found it again, walking on a
picnic table. Finally I got some mediocre video of it. The sides and flanks
were extensively rich muddy pink, and the hood was slightly paler than the
palest 'Oregon' Junco I've ever seen (with contrasting charcoal-black mask
around the eyes and lores). These and a number of other features make me
quite confident it is a Pink-sided Junco.
After Sprague Lake, we hit Perch Point and Lind Coulee on Potholes
Reservoir. Perch Point by far had more numbers of shorebirds, but both of
these excellent sites should be checked whenever you're in the area.

SPRAGUE LAKE (11:40-3:00pm):
(Around 85 species in this area alone.)
Blue-winged Teal (18)
Cinnamon Teal (30): mostly at the Sprague STP.
Northern Pintail (8)
Bufflehead (1)
American White Pelican (17)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (5: 2 ad., 3 juv.)
Turkey Vulture (1)
Prairie Falcon (1)
Greater Yellowlegs (3)
Lesser Yellowlegs (11)
Solitary Sandpiper (1)
SANDERLING (2 juv)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (2)
Western Sandpiper (60)
Baird's Sandpiper (14)
Long-billed Dowitcher (4)
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER (1)
Red-necked Phalarope (80): all in one flock in the middle of lake.
Common Nighthawk (120)
Vaux's Swift (1)
Olive-sided Flycatcher (3)
Willow Flycatcher (1)
Hammond's Flycatcher (2)
Dusky Flycatcher (1)
Pacific-slope Flycatcher (1)
Eastern Kingbird (1)
Warbling Vireo (8)
Violet-green Swallow (10)
Bank Swallow (500)
Cliff Swallow (1)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (3)
Orange-crowned Warbler (5)
Yellow Warbler (5)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (30)
Townsend's Warbler (5)
MacGillivray's Warbler (6)
Wilson's Warbler (8)
Western Tanager (2)
Chipping Sparrow (9)
Lincoln's Sparrow (4)
White-crowned Sparrow (13)
'PINK-SIDED' JUNCO (1)
Black-headed Grosbeak (1)

I-90 EAST OF RITZVILLE (3:40):
Ferruginous Hawk (1)

LIND COULEE (4:20-4:35):
American White Pelican (15)
Lesser Yellowlegs (2)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (1)
Western Sandpiper (15)
Least Sandpiper (3)
Pectoral Sandpiper (1)
Stilt Sandpiper (7)
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER (3)
Long-billed Dowitcher (12)

PERCH POINT (4:45-5:15):
Lesser Yellowlegs (10)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (22)
Western Sandpiper (450)
Baird's Sandpiper (1)
Stilt Sandpiper (23)
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER (1)
Long-billed Dowitcher (25)
Wilson's Phalarope (1)
Red-necked Phalarope (80)
Yellow-headed Blackbird (250)

Cheers
Charlie Wright
Bonney Lake, Washington