Today was planned as a comprehensive tour of migrant traps with the hopes of
finding vagrants. Apparently I forgot to share my planned route with said
vagrants...

I started the morning with a search for the Black-throated Sparrow recently
reported by Denny Granstrand along Huntzinger rd. I had no luck in finding
this bird but did find another singing BLACK-THROATED SPARROW at the
entrance to the Yakima Training Center south of Wanapum Dam further along
Huntzinger Rd.
Wanapum Dam state park had the most migrants that I encountered all day.
Present were:
1 Cassin's Vireo
3 Wilson's Warbler
2 Yellow Warbler
1 Black-throated Gray Warbler
1 Red-breasted Nuthatch

There is a very active colony of Bank Swallows just south of the state park
along Huntzinger rd. I have not noticed this colony in the past, so it is
likely a newly formed one.

Next I proceeded to hit Bassett Park in Washtucna, VERY slow except for 3
EURASIAN COLLARED DOVES , likely same birds as have been here for past year.
Next stop was Palouse Falls State Park, no migrants found. Lyon's Ferry had
several roosting Common Nighthawks, 2 Warbling Vireo and several Yellow
Warblers and Wilson's Warbler, otherwise not much.
Wahluke Slope yielded similar results this evening. I was amazed at how many
Bullock's Orioles were present today, between those 5 stops for migrants, I
counted 46 Oriole's! One grove on Wahluke Slope had 14, with 5 in one
binocular view!

The best bird of the day came at 3:30 with a stop at the corner of Frenchman
Hills Rd and Dodson Rd in Grant Co. At the Parking lot for the marsh here,
was a WHITE-FACED IBIS feeding in the rushes. It was still present when I
left at 3:50.

This evening there was a Burrowing Owl present along Hwy.24 about MP 27.
This is likely the same bird that Mac Knight posted photos of earlier today
on tweeters.

Not a bad day, but pretty slow in the migrant category.

Scott Downes
downess at charter.net
Yakima WA