Subject: [Tweeters] Baltimore Oriole near Vantage
Date: May 28 20:42:02 2006
From: Ruth and/or Patrick Sullivan - godwit513 at msn.com


Hello Tweets,

We just arrived home after a great 4 day trip to eastern WA and wish to report our sightings to and from Doug Schonewald's 2 day WOS field trip. Our main highlight away from Doug's field trip began with a single singing male AM.REDSTART on the 25th of May at 3pm in the northwest corner of the picnic area at Wanapum State Park(accessed south of Vantage along Huntzinger Rd. in Kittitas Co.). The bird was very elusive and jumpy,as it foraged and sang from a dense stand of Silver Maple trees. Today on the 28th of May we returned to the same location at Wanapum State Park to see what migrant passerines may be around between 9am-11am. Our morning visit began quite slow during windy conditions,but a return walk to the northeast corner of the picnic area yielded a bright male BALTIMORE ORIOLE first observed in a single Silver Maple tree near a double set of metal picnic tables. The bird perched only briefly on an open twig within the tree allowing excellent views from underneath as it turned it's solid black head and upper back towards us before quickly flying to the backside of the same tree. The bird soon flew off from a dense area of foliage in the Silver Maple tree and continued straight a fair distance south through a few more trees within the picnic area. In flight the lack of the strong white wing patch as in a Bullock's Oriole was well noted and strongly showed deep orange and black plumage overall with minor white areas in the wings. The bird was very elusive and seemed quite shy during the brief,but good observation and as a result we were disappointed by not obtaining any photos of the bird. The bird also remained completely silent during our observation unlike the often noisy "chatting" and singing from several nearby Bullocks' Orioles. We attempted to relocate the bird for 1 hour in the deciduous habitat along the southern edge of the picnic area,but were unsuccessful and increased windy conditions and it is unclear whether the bird flew completely off and remained hidden in dense foliage of a tree in the area searched. Although the sighting was not as long as we would have liked we felt fortunate to see this very rare and striking bird. It is possible the bird could still be around,but since spring migration is usually very quick the bird could have moved on,but we don't want to deter anyone from looking since they could find other good migrants at this great park along the Columbia River!



On the morning of May 25th we left for eastern WA and stopped along 29th Ave. NW in Kent where we located the lingering BLACK PHOEBE foraging elusively in vegetation just north of the Mill Creek bridge at 9am. A single WESTERN KINGBIRD was briefly observed in an open field near a farm complex south of Mill Creek bridge. We arrived at Vantage on the 25th at 3pm after checking a few other birding locations on the way. We primarily birded the picnic area of Wanapum State Park since the main camping area of the park was somewhat full of campers getting ready for the big Memorial Weekend and when we arrived back to Wanapum State Park on the 28th this park and other nearby Vantage areas were fully loaded with people. On the 25th birding conditions were very slow with very little passerine movement at Wanapum SP and other nearby areas,but our return visit on the 28th was much better although not loaded with birds. After birding the Vantage area on the 25th we continued east to Moses Lake,where we stayed for the next 2 days enjoying the late spring passerine migration from many Columbia Basin areas on Doug Schonewald's WOS field trip. Both days were completely filled of birding with many lingering migrant songbirds,as well as other summering species at many different "migrant traps",etc. The weather was great during the 4 days in eastern WA with only a few scattered rain showers,although wind hampered much of our efforts at times. A list of species other species encountered away from Doug Schonewald's WOS field trip included the following from selected locations:

Common Loon
3 at Vantage on the 25th

Horned Grebe
4 birds at Vantage

CLARK'S GREBE
2 observed separately with 9 Western Grebes at Vantage(observed in both Kittitas and Grant Cos.)

Greater Scaup
9 at Vantage on the 25th and 28th

Chukar
1 along the "old" Ellensburg Hwy.(north of Vantage)at MP 22

Bonaparte's Gull
4 birds with good numbers of California Gulls along the Columbia below Wanapum Dam on the 28th

Long-eared Owl
1 flying along I-90 at dawn east of Winchester Wasteway in Grant Co. on the 26th

Short-eared Owl
1 flying along I-90 at dusk west of Winchester Wasteway in Grant Co. on the 26th

Common Nighthawk
1 a Wanapum State Park on the 25th

Black Swift
1 flying with a small group of White-throated Swifts and Cliff Swallows at the Gingko Petrified Forest State Park(Vantage)on the 28th

Dusky Flycatcher
1 at Vantage on the 25th
1 at Wanapum SP on the 28th

Pacific-slope Flycatcher
1 at Wanapum SP on the 28th

Bank Swallow(noteworthy numbers)
5-600+ at Wanapum SP on the 25th(including an active nesting colony just north of the Wanapum SP boat launch)

Red-breasted Nuthatch
1 at Wanapum SP on the 28th

Swainson's Thrush
1 at Wanapum SP on the 25th

Gray Catbird
2 singing birds along the North Thorp Hwy. in Kittitas Co. on the 25th with 1 bird there on the 28th

Loggerhead Shrike
6 along the "old" Ellensburg Hwy.(north of Vantage)on the 25th

Warbling Vireo
2 at Wanapum SP on the 28th

Yellow-rumped Warbler
1 bird of the "Myrtle"subspecies at Vantage on the 25th
1 bird of the "Audubon's" subspecies at Wanapum SP on the 28th

Wilson's Warbler
3 at Wanapum SP on the 28th

Western Tanager
2 at Wanapum SP on the 28th

Yellow-breasted Chat
2 along the "old" Ellensburg Hwy.(north of Vantage)on the 25th

Lark Sparrow
4 along the "old" Ellensburg Hwy. on the 25th
12 at Wanapum SP on the 25th
7 along Huntzinger Rd. south of Wanapum Dam on the 28th

Sage Sparrow
7 along Huntzinger Rd. south of Wanapum Dam on the 28th

GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW
1 adult bird at Wanapum SP on the 25th

Yellow-headed Blackbird(noteworthy location)
1 bird at the east end of East Taneum Rd.(north of Thorp)on the 25th



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit513 at msn.com