Subject: [Tweeters] SE WA Birding Sat & Sun [9/3-4], incl. PHILY VIREO
Date: Sep 5 11:16:02 2005
From: Connie Sidles - csidles at isomedia.com


Dear Matt and Bob and everyone else who has been posting about the hot birds
at Washtucna et al.: a little more of this and I will have to move to
eastern Washington. I'm warning you. - Connie, Seattle

csidles at isomedia.com

on 9/5/05 11:04 AM, Matt Bartels at mattxyz at earthlink.net wrote:

> 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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