We birded Tyson Ponds near Wallula today, 8/5/06. With water very high at
the Walla Walla and Yakima River Deltas, Tyson seems to be the best place to
find shorebirds.

Numbers were not particularly high.

Long-billed Dowitcher 18
Red-necked Phalarope 19
Wilson's Phalarope 6
Lesser Yellowlegs 10
Greater Yellowlegs 6
Spotted Sandpiper 8
American Avocet 8
Black-necked Stilt 4
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
(odd to have no other peeps)
Solitary Sandpiper 1

The most interesting birds were not shorebirds however. We observed 1
Horned Grebe in prebasic molt. It is only our third August record of this
species in the Lower Columbia Basin.

We also noted 3 Franklin's Gulls.


Bill and Nancy LaFramboise
Richland WA