All participants met at a predetermined spot Friday night for a breezy night
of sleeping under the stars. Little did we know that the wind was only
going to get much stronger to where at one point walking and opening our car
doors wasn't easy. The worst wind was Sunday morning on the western rim of
the Tucannon River where many new wind generating machines now grace the
green wheat fields. Below is just a short blurp of places visited and
highlights at those places. A total of 139 plus species, perhaps some that
I didn't get written down, was much lower than past years due to the windy
conditions and this spring being much cooler and wetter making it later than
normal. For instance hummingbirds arrived last year at Last Chance Store
(Tucannon River) on April 17 and this year 7 days later on April 24.

Friday May 5, Anne Kahle and I took off traveling over White Pass where
Barrow's Goldeneyes were on their normal places and a Gray Jay met us as we
stopped to stretch our legs on the pass. Below Rimrock Lake along the
Tieton River a male Harlequin Duck looked supreme standing on a rock near
the edge of the fast moving water. American White Pelicans were nice to see
north of Yakima along the Yakima River. A side jaunt to Potholes Dam
revealed a Common Loon, Clark's and Western Grebes, and a Prairie Falcon.
We then headed for Liberty Lake area and the Great-tailed Grackle. After
much searching we did not see it so checked out the state park where Sora
and Virginia Rails were calling. A new hole in the freshly sawn-off limb
appeared to be the new home of a Red-breasted Nuthatch. The dry pine
hillsides were very quiet. Again we checked for the Grackle and finally saw
it on the grass quite a ways out. Anne got to see it 10 seconds before it
flew towards the houses. We checked out West Medical Lake with not much due
to high water and fishermen keeping the ducks hidden in the north cove.
Reardan produced high water with a Virginia Rail calling. The Davenport
Cemetery was crawling with migrants such as Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Hermit
Thrushes, White-crowned Sparrows, Townsend's Warblers, a Lincoln's Sparrow,
a Dusky Flycatcher and the normal. One last stop before sundown produced
Wild Turkeys and down below Hawk Creek Falls 2 Dippers and 1 Greater
Yellowlegs--the only one we saw all weekend.

Saturday May 6 a House Wren and several Vesper Sparrows were calling before
dawn as we all got up shortly after 4 am. Swanson Lakes were high, but we
did find a few shorebirds. We had Wilson's Phalarope upon arriving and
while scoping the water a Least Sandpiper flew by calling and a Semipalmated
Plover landed close for good looks. A single Long-billed Dowitcher called
and headed west. A couple of Avocets were spotted on the eastern shore. 4
Ring-necked Ducks took off going west from the western most lake. South of
Swanson Lakes we found our only Canvasbacks on a small lake--wondered if
they were there to breed or not. Also another stop produced Sage Thrashers,
and 3 Loggerhead Shrikes along with winnowing Wilson's Snipe and Brewer's
Sparrows.

The town of Harington was full of migrants with many at a feeder west of the
park. Here we had our only Western Wood-Pewee of the trip. Evening
Grosbeaks, Orange-crowned and Townsend's Warblers with Gray Partridge and
Red-breasted Nuthatches up at the cemetery on the hill.

Our next places to bird were Sprague sewer ponds and then on to the lake.
The sewer ponds had a Bald Eagle, Spotted Sandpipers, Black Terns,
Swainson's Hawk, Wilson's Phalaropes and the wetlands below and west of the
sewerponds had Dunlin, Lesser Yellowlegs and other shorebirds not easily
seen in the tall grass. Around Sprague Lake we had Barn Owls, hundreds of
Black Terns, Bonaparte's Gulls, and American White Pelicans.

Sheep and Crooked Knee Lakes were not very productive due to high water.
Texas Lake wasn't either, but just west of the lake we found Rock Wren,
Townsend's Solitaire, a Hermit Thrush keeping company with a Slate-colored
Fox Sparrow, Great Horned Owls, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Below Texas Lake
heading south we found both Hammond's and Dusky Flycatchers close by for
comparisons. Burrowing Owls were the toughest I've had in finding them.
This may be due to the high grass from a wet winter and spring. Long-billed
Curlews were quiet as well.

Washtucna sounded promising since Harrington was so good. The main
highlight here was the two Eurasian Collared-Doves. Not much yet. We tried
a couple of spots for Grasshopper Sparrows near the Palpouse Falls. Due to
a late migration and winds we could not hear any.

Lyon's Ferry was however very good. We did not have much time to cover it
well, but we did find Gray Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Fox Sparrow,
Nashville Warbler, our only Bullock's Oriole, 2 Osprey. The Gray Flyctcher
hasn't been seen that often in Franklin County as it is only passing through
here. Same for the Fox Sparrow. Dark time fell as we entered Pomeroy and
our normal eating place was out-of-business. Not knowing the town we tried
the bar across the street and found it well lit and nice clean tables for
tabulating our lists and getting something warm to eat. Much better than
the original eating spot for this trip as voiced by many at the table.

We camped in the wind at Boundary Campground with many of us sleeping on the
ground and during the night rain forced some of us into relocating to drier
places. Hard-core birders will sleep through anything though. A few birds
were calling such as Hairy Woodpecker, Red Crossbills, both Dusky and
Hammond's Flycatchers, Cassin's Finches, a nest hole for Red-brested
Nuthatch, before we headed down the ridge to less windy destinations.

Mountain Bluebirds graced the fences and braved the wind as we headed down
Blind Grade and stopped at the Hartsock Unit Wildlife Management area. A
hen Turkey jumped started Kraig Kemper which burst into flight under his
feet without any previous warning of it being there. A Cassin's Vireo,
Bewick's Wren and Yellow Warblers were along the creek just inside the
Garfield County line. A stop at Last Chance Resort to checkout their
hummingbird feeders we found one female Black-chinned and many Rufous
Hummingbirds. A flock of Wild Turkeys were feeding on the hillside across
the Tucannon River. Vaux's Swifts were flying up the river. We could not
locate any rails in the marshy areas like Spring Lake, but we did get
Western Tanager, Warbling Vireo, Tree Swallow, and Golden Eagle. Going down
the river we found a flock of Common Mergansers, another Tree Swallow,
Dippers, and a lone Gray Partridge along the wheatfield above the Tucannon
River in strong wind.

The north fork of Coppei Creek produced MacGillivray's Warbler, Fox
Sparrows, Sharp-shinned Hawk, as the main high lights. 9-mile Canyon had
Grasshopper Sparrows playing hard to hear, a Rock Wren, a Loggerhead
Shrike, and Vesper Sparrows were calling. We circled around the back way
from 9-mile to Dodd Road and checked the ponds for shorebirds whick
included: Semipalmated Plover, Western and Least Sandpipers, Long-billed
Dowitchers, Avocets, Black-necked Stilts, Dunlin, Wilson's Phalaropes,
Bonaparte's Gull, Caspian Terns, Barn Owls, and all normal swallow species
including Tree. The last stop for us as a group was the Walla Walla River
mouth at Wallula Jct. 4 Forster's Terns and American White Pelicans were
all the high water would show us.

This was a fun trip and made for those who don't mind the elements and hard
ground for camping. I realize many were on the waiting list and would have
liked to participate in this fieldtrip. Close to 12 were on the waiting
list. This year might have best been done iin mid-May due to the late
migration. So if any need additional information on the route you can still
go on your own, email me with any questions.


Ken Knittle
Washington Birder newsletter
2604 NE 80th Street
Vancouver, WA 98665
mailto:washingtonbirder at hotmail.com