Hi Tweets -
I needed to be in Idaho for the weekend, so I built in a couple days
of birding en route in southeast WA. It turned out to be a great
couple of days of summer birding, with the big surprise being the
discovery that birds do indeed exist in Garfield County! With just a
few exceptions, most of my sightings were of 'the regulars' -- a
great look at what is breeding in the se corner of the state.

Tuesday late in the afternoon [6/19], I arrived in Columbia county at
the Lyons Ferry Marina and nearby Tucannon WMA. The first of endless
Bullock's Orioles popped out along with the first of many Eastern &
Western Kingbirds.

I worked my way up the Tucannon River route towards the Umatilla
National Forest. The riparian corridor was hopping with birds,
especially in the first 10 miles or so, where House Wrens, Western
Wood-pewee, Lazuli Buntings & Yellow Warblers formed the main portion
of the population.
Up where the forest begins, near Wooten State Park, a few LEWIS'S
WOODPECKERS flew across the road. I camped a bit further up, near the
intersection of FR40 and FR4620. In this area I ended the short day
with RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS, SWAINSON'S THRUSH. & COMMON NIGHTHAWKS
overhead.

Wednesday 6/20:
The morning began with singing VEERY next to my tent. A CALLIOPE
HUMMINGBIRD was hawking insects nearby over the river. In a couple
hours of walking around I came across
Warbling & Cassin's Vireos,
MacGillivrays, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Orange-cronwed & Townsends Warblers,
Dusky & Hammond's Flycatchers as well as Western Wood-pewees

Down the road at Rainbow Lake there were several GRAY CATBIRDS, as
well as Willow Flycatchers, Black-headed Grosbeaks & Osprey.


A final Columbia Co stop at the Last Resort [just south of the Blind
Grade Rd. turnoff], produced a single BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD at
the feeders -- the owner said the majority of the hummer activity has
tapered off for now, presumably as the regulars tend to nests &
nestlings.

Garfield Co:
Moving into Garfield via Blind Grade road, I stopped first in the
Hartsock WMA unit, just inside the county line. House Wrens, Say's
Phoebe, Red-naped Sapsuckers & Lazuli Buntings were around inside the
thickets.

After a brief stop in Pomeroy [for a House Finch 'tick' in my 39th
county - yay] , I headed up 15th/Mountain/Peone/FR40 into the
Umatilla NF again. Along the road I checked a few of the better
looking thickets but couldn't pull up a catbird. A PRAIRIE FALCON and
a NORTHERN HARRIER flew past as I drove up, and the first of many
flocklets of Horned Larks played chicken with the car. Once up in the
higher fields [~10 miles up], the first MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS appeared
roadside, as well as some Savannah Sparrows in the fields.

At the entrance to the Umatilla NF at Boundary Campground, I saw my
only WESTERN BLUEBIRDS of the trip, and got my first looks at
Chipping Sparrows, Hammond's Flycatchers, W.Tanagers, & Red-breasted
Nuthatch. Soon after the Boundary CG, I made the first of several
stops at various burns, finding several WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKERS,
HAIRY WOODPECKERS, & FLICKERS.

Near Sunset Point, while I was watching a DUSKY FLYCATCHER & a
OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER calling, a TURKEY VULTURE [rare in the Blue
Mtns] cruised by. I saw one at the roughly the same spot on the next
day, leading me to wonder if there might not be a resident up there
now.

Moving on towards my campsite at Wickiup, large flocks of Red
Crossbills passed by every half hour or so. Wandering the nearby
clearcut towards dusk, I watched Gray Jays, Cassin's Finch, Mtn
Bluebirds, Hairy Woodpeckers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets & Hermit Thrush
while waiting for the evening Common Nighthawk show to begin.

Thursday 6/21
Most of my morning birds at the same spot around the Wickiup CG were
the same as the evening before, but I was able to track down the
sparrows I'd heard the night before -- as suspected, the clearcut up
there seems to have good numbers of BREWERS SPARROWS - unexpected
habitat to find them breeding, unless this was a post-breeding
dispersal group? I also had un-identified fly-bys of a couple hummers
and what was probably a Black-backed Woodpecker in the area.

At Sunset Point, in addition to the aforementioned Turkey Vulture, a
couple ROCK WRENS popped up and a CASSIN'S VIREO sang from back in
the forest. A bit further down the road , north of the Clearwater
lookout, I came across an active nest hole for a pair of
Am.THREE-TOED WOODPECKERS --I watched as the pair made repeated
feeding trips into the hole. It seems they chose one of the only
remaining snags in a recently logged off burn site.

Moving downhill, I stopped next at the Central Ferry Marina [picking
up SWAINSON'S HAWK en route]. I didn't have high hopes for water
birds in summer, but a few good things popped up. First up was a
fly-over of an AM. WHITE PELICAN [a rare Garfleld bird]. On the
water, an immature California Gull was hanging out with some
Ring-billed Gulls. I was enjoying looks at a few WESTERN GREBES when
I noticed one sitting a little further off --Turned out it was a
CLARK'S GREBE, a county first for Garfield.

Over at Lower Granite Dam, I had my only Spotted Sandpipers, Herring
Gulls, Great Blue Heron & Common Goldeneyes of the day, along with 9
more American White Pelicans!

East of the dam as far as you can go, YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS [2 or
more] were singing in the final group of thickets. West of the dam
along the cliff edges I had more Rock Wrens and a couple CANYON
WRENS. Down at the base of the cliffs the bushes held the only
SPOTTED TOWHEES of the day.

There are several decent thickets along Lower Deadman road and the
various other riparian corridors as you move towards Lower Granite
Dam and I only had time to check a few of them [Red-eyed Vireos in
the great looking corridor between Mayview & the Snake River]. Near
Mayview, a couple GRAY PARTRIDGE popped out roadside, and several
VESPER SPARROWS joined the Horned Larks were along the various dirt
roads I cruised coming to & from the dam.

My final stop was along Pataha Creek [accessed by turning off
Mountain Rd onto Peone, ~ 7 1/2 miles south of Pomeroy. Pataha Creek
Rd turns off to the right about 1 1/2 miles down Peone]. Though it
was getting late and I wished I had more time earlier to check this
area out, there was still time to find: MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS,
RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS, & several singing VEERY.

I ended the day trying unsuccessfully for Common Poorwill along the
road east of Marengo where they've been reported in previous years.

80+ species in a day in Garfield Co is a bit more than I expected --
maybe with a little work Garfield could give King Co big day totals a
run for their money....

Directions: The ABA guide [Opperman] covers almost all these sites
very well on pages 512-520 but let me know if you'd like any thing
more specific.


Best,

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA