Hi Tweeters & Inlanders -
Saturday & Sunday I was in SE WA, starting early at Kahlotus &
Washtucna, then looping through Columbia, Garfield & Asotin.

Sat 9/3:
Kahlotus, Franklin Co - One good bird popped out after an otherwise
slow start to the morning at the city park:
PHILADELPHIA VIREO - I had just been watching a Warbling Vireo when
this vireo popped out. At first I assumed it was just a different
look at the same WAVI, or another WAVI -- but then I started to
notice the field marks - yellow wash all across the breast & lower
throat, noticably different than the yellowish flanks of many WAVIs;
short bill; darker crown. After already giving me too much time to
study the vireo, the birding gods handed down one more gift - a
Warbling Vireo came up right next to the Philadelphia for nice
comparisons - along with confirming the bill difference, crown
difference & difference between underside patterns, I also had the
sense that the Philly was chunkier than the long-&-thin looking WAVI.
Biggest thing missed in all this was a good study of the lores.

Bassett Park, Washtucna [~8:00am]: [WA ABA p. 374]
As I arrived, Bob F, Randy H, Steve M, Bruce L, & Brad W were hot on
the trail of the Eastern Phoebe. Unfortunately, the flocks were
moving fast, and I was unable to find the phoebe. Likewise, when the
Rose-breasted Grosbeak popped up, I was slow on the draw and unable
to get a look before it too moved on out to the south. I held out
for a couple more hours after the 5 had moved on, hoping the grosbeak
or phoebe would circle back - no luck. The Eurasian Collared-Dove
was a great concession prize, easy to track down by its call, a
little north of the park.

Palouse Falls SP, Franklin Co: [WA ABA p. 375]
A brief stop turned up little here. There were a couple PEREGRINE
FALCONS calling constantly back & forth to each other as they circled
around the cliffs, but the trees were mostly empty.

Lyons Ferry Park, Franklin Co: [WA ABA p. 375]
For the second time today, I arrived to find Bob Flores & crew hot on
the trail of another good bird. This time, I pulled up and they
called me over to view the CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS. I got a good look,
but realized after birds & birders had moved on that I really needed
to look over descriptions of the spizella sparrows before going back
to try to find the Clay-colored and be sure I could tell them from
the Chipping Sparrows they were with. Fortunately, after birding onto
the island I returned to find the flock ready for close viewing.

Tucannon WMA, Columbia Co:[Delorme p. 41 D-7]
GREAT EGRET - a county first, apparently! I arrived at the boat
launch and a nice fisher from Othello, Joe Kephart, told me of just
having seen the egret. It was just visible down the creek, but then
as I checked other areas Joe signalled that the egret had come in to
pose right by the boat launch. I was suprised to check the county
list and find GREG unlisted. But that matched Joe's recollection of
having fished the area regularly for 10 yrs without any previous
egret sightings.

WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS - about 10 next to a small roadside cliff,
south of Tucannon, just before Powers. I'd stopped to watch a covey
of Ring-necked Pheasants and looked up to find the swifts. They must
have been migrating, as they are listed as rare in Columbia county,
and the area didn't seem particularly White-throated Swift
appropriate.

I ended the day checking a few pretty quiet spots in Garfield County.

Sunday 9/4:
A slower day, spent mostly making the circuit through the Blue Mtns
after first starting a Swallows Park south of Clarkston, in Asotin Co.

Swallows Park [WA ABA p. 521] held a Gray Catbird or two, a couple
Macgillivray's Warblers & an Orange-crowned Warbler in the bushes,
but nobody surprising. On the beaches, only Killdeer were around.

Heading south on 129 from Asotin toward Anatone, I passed groups of
Ring-necked Pheasants, Wild Turkeys, & Gray Partridges in succession
as I headed uphill. Also, a Swainsons Hawk was around doing some
hovering.

Field Springs SP, south of Anatone: [WA ABA p. 524]
GRAY FLYCATCHER - unexpected, along with several HAMMONDS FLYCATCHERS
and a couple Pewees -
NASHVILLE, TOWNSENDS, YELLOW-RUMPED, MACGILLIVRAYS, & OC WARBLERS all
present on the hike up to Puffer Butte.
A half dozen or so VAUXS SWIFTS circled overhead too.

Blue Mountains, Umatilla NF:[WA ABA 519-520]
The roads from Anatone [in Asotin Co] and Pomeroy [in GarfieldCo] are
both recently re-opened after the fires - burnt out forests were
apparent around the Garfield entrance to the Umatilla NF, but not
around Wenatchee Guard Station, Wickiup CG or Misery Springs CG. I
already saw some woodpecker scrapings on recently burnt trees, which
leads me to wonder how long it takes after a fire for the woodpeckers
to move in - I'd assumed it was longer than this. Fire crews warned,
by the way, against walking through any of the blackened forests yet
- they are still hot & sometimes smoldering roots underground can be
dangerous - so bird from the road at this point!
Nice birds up in the area included Townsend's Solitaire & Gray Jays
near Wickiup CG.

On the way home I was pleasantly surprised to see the flock of WILD
TURKEYS near Lyons Ferry Park that has been mentioned by others. They
had moved west, across the road from the park and headed toward the
hatchery.

A dusk stop in Washtucna produced nothing but Starlings, after which
I headed back to Seattle.


Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA


















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