On Sunday (5/20/07), Kim Thorburn and Anton Jamheimer
joined me on a trip out to Douglas County. The weather
was cool, breezy, and partly sunny.

Our first birding site was on Bachelor Prairie that is
accessed by North Telford Road (Lincoln County). At
the BLM pull out, we obtained excellent views of
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW, VESPER SPARROW, and MOUNTAIN
BLUEBIRD. In the Ponderosa Pinewoods, we quickly came
up with CASSIN'S FINCH and GRAY FLYCATCHER.

As we returned to Hwy 2, we had splendid views of a
LEWIS'S WOODPECKER that was perched on a fence post.

While we made a brief stop at the Dry Falls Fishing
Access on Banks Lake (Douglas County), we found a
YELLOW WARBLER in the lakeside willows. A SPOTTED
SANDPIPER was on a nearby island sandbar. Other than
American Coots and distant Western Grebes, there
wasn't much else on the adjacent stretch of water.

One of the best stops of the day was at Stallard Lake
(Douglas County). When we arrived, I pished up a
highly cooperative BREWER'S SPARROW. In the sagebrush,
other Brewers were singing away. On the lake itself,
we were pleased to find good numbers of AMERICAN
AVOCET, BLACK-NECKED STILT, WILSON'S PHALAROPE,
REDHEAD, AMERICAN COOT,CINNAMON TEAL, NO. SHOVELER,
GADWALL, MALLARD, BARN SWALLOW, CLIFF SWALLOW, and
GADWALL, In smaller numbers, we saw LESSER SCAUP - 6,
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER - 7, AMERICAN WIGEON - 4,
SOLITARY SANDPIPER - 1, EARED GREBE - 2, BLUE-WINGED
TEAL -1, PIED-BILLED GREBE -1 , NORTHERN PINTAIL - 1,
and BANK SWALLOW - 1. A SORA called once and then was
silent.

On West Haynes Lake, we found a similar selection of
waterfowl and shorebirds. For good measure, we also
had a lovely, alternate -plumaged RED-NECKED
PHALAROPE.

In a shelterbelt on the corner of 5 NE & Heritage, we
had good views of a GRAY FLYCATCHER that was working
low in the understory. On 4 NE, we failed to find any
Grasshopper Sparrows, but we did enjoy a pair of SAGE
THRASHERs, WESTERN MEADOWLARK, and plenty more VESPER
& BREWER'S SPARROWs. Migrating WILSON'S WARBLERs were
slipping through the sage.

We couldn't find anymore shorebird spots along
Heritage, so we proceeded westward. At MP 62.5 on Hwy
2, there was a nice SWAINSON'S HAWK near what was
probably it's nest adjacent to a metal storage silo.

Although we checked plenty of other CRP sites, we
never found any Grasshopper Sparrows. However, Douglas
Creek held plenty of good birds for us. Some of the
birds that we saw at this location were, CANYON WREN,
LAZULI BUNTING, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, BULLOCK'S
ORIOLE, WILSON'S WARBLERs, TOWNSEND'S WARBLER,
NASHVILLE WARBLER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERs,
RUFOUS-SIDED TOWHEE, SONG SPARROW, STELLER'S JAY,
RED-SHAFTED FLICKER, and several YELLOW-BREASTED
CHATs. Kim had a quick view of a larger falcon
(Prairie or Peregrine). On the heard only list, we had
ROCK WREN, CHUKAR, and HOUSE WREN.

As drove up the eastern flank of Badger Mountain, we
saw WESTERN WOOD PEWEE in Titchalen Canyon. On Indian
Camp Road, we noted YELLOW WARBLER, LEWIS'S
WOODPECKER, HOUSE WREN, and DUSKY FLYCATCHER. In the
higher elevation pine-fir forest, I imitated a Pygmy
Owl call and brought in MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE,
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER,
MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER (first one that I have seen
this year), STELLER'S JAY, WESTERN TANAGER, and an
actual NORTHERN PYGMY OWL. The Pygmy Owl was quickly
overwhelmed by the contingent of chickadees,
nuthatches, and warblers that I had already activated,
and it quickly retreated back into the forest. A bit
farther down the road, we heard TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE,
and saw CHIPPING SPARROW and CASSIN'S FINCH.

At the Waterville STP, there was decent mixture of
waterfowl (Coots, Redhead, Mallard, Gadwall, Cinnamon
Teal, Wilson's Phalaropes) and numerous cruising BANK
SWALLOWs, TREE SWALLOWs, CLIFF SWALLOWs, BARN
SWALLOWs, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWs, and a couple of NO.
ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWs.

When we reached Coulee City, I suggested that we try
to find some of the good birds (i.e. White-faced Ibis
and American Bittern) around Wilson Creek that had
been reported by Terry Little. While we scanned from
the bluff overlook, we could see BLACK-NECKED STILTS
and AMERICAN AVOCETS, scattered all through the
wetlands. Under greater scrutiny, we picked out
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERs, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERs, and
SPOTTED SANDPIPERs, but no ibis or bittern was to be
seen.

As the light began to wane, we managed to see a
FERRUGINOUS HAWK on 22 NE (Grant County) and the
nesting FERRUGIONOUS HAWK at MP84 on Hwy 28 (Lincoln
County). It was a nice way to wrap a marvelous day of
birding.

Before closing, I should report that when Cindy
McCormack and I were returning home from a WOS Board
Meeting on Saturday (5/19/07), we saw two interesting
Adams County birds along US 26 (east of Othello). The
first one was a BURROWING OWL on a fence post, and the
second one was a male BOBOLINK that was flying over
some CRP land. By the time we were able to turn around
to relocate the Bobolink, the bird had vanished.

Best of birding to all,

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA



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