MaryFrances Mathis, Matt Bartels, Paul & Barbara Webster, and I spent Friday
through Sunday birding in central and southern Washington, participating in
Ken Knittle's excellent WOS trip on Saturday. We had a great time, seeing
many great birds, and even found a new bird for Skamania County.

On Friday (23 March) we started out at Soap Lake hoping for gulls
(especially a particular dark-mantled gull) but only found two, a
Ring-billed and California. On the edge of the lake were 3 Least Sandpipers
at the south end, and 3 Black-necked Stilts at the north end. While working
our way up Lake Lenore, MaryFrances spotted a Chukar which we had brief but
nice views of while 2 White-throated Swifts flew overhead. Further up at
Blue Lake there were at least 8 Herring Gulls and a Golden Eagle.

Moving on to Wilson Creek we ran into Brian Bell where he had 2 Ferruginous
Hawks staked out providing nice views. Also 3 Tundra Swans and a Loggerhead
Shrike.

>From there we headed south into Moses Lake. I spotted the Lesser
Black-backed Gull from from the car as we crossed the water to Neppell
Landing. We were able to get excellent views of it while it attempted to
catch its own fish before settling for one on the shore. In case anyone was
wondering, this is a different LBBG than the Lake Lenore bird. I should be
posting photos soon.

Next we headed down to Othello with a brief stop for a pair of Burrowing
Owls along the side of the road. There were at least a couple dozen
Tricolored Blackbirds at the Para Ponds. The County Line Ponds on SR26 just
into Grant County had 2 Greater White-fronted Geese, 1 American Avocet, and
45 Sandhill Cranes flying over.

Our last birding stop of the day was Scooteney Reservoir. There were many
flocks of birds distantly in the horizon and a few birds on the water.
Highlights here included 3 Snow Geese and 9 Sandhill Cranes.

Saturday (24 March) we met up with Ken Knittle for his field trip which was
great - see his earlier post.

Sunday (25 March) we started out with 2 adult Mew Gulls at Hood River, OR
before moving to the Bingen Ponds in Klickitat County. Here were a pair of
Osprey at a nest, 2 Peregrine Falcons, 15 Dunlin, 1 Northern Rough-winged
Swallow, Myrtle & Audubon's Warblers & 8 Golden-crowned Sparrows.

Moving west along the river we checked out the park at Rock Creek Cove in
Stevenson where the 2 Greater White-fronted Geese were with the domestic
geese. MaryFrances was trying to track down a Hutton's Vireo while the rest
of us walked out to look at the gulls. On the way Barbara spotted 6 Dunlin
which are rare in the county. While noticing that their black bellies were
beginning to fill in, a Loggerhead Shrike flew into a nearby tree! It then
flew south, perching on the railroad bridge and at the top of a conifer
before dropping out of sight. We drove around town near the pier but were
unable to relocate it. This is apparently the first record for Skamania
County.

Next at the St Cloud Ranch I had a short view of a nice-looking white-stripe
White-throated Sparrow with quite a few Golden-crowneds. A couple Rufous
Hummingbirds were also here. Scaup covered Franz Lake, with some
Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead and American Wigeon mixed in.

The Mute Swan was seen from the highway at Steigerwald NWR. In a brief stop
at Clark College we missed the Red-naped Sapsucker.

Good birding,
Ryan Merrill
Kirkland, WA