Subject: [Tweeters] Great weekend to eastern WA
Date: May 28 17:58:25 2007
From: Ruth and/or Patrick Sullivan - godwit513 at msn.com


Hello Birders,

We just arrived home from an very exciting and rewarding 5 day trip to eastern Washington in search of late spring migrants from the 24th-28th of May. Our primary efforts were made in the Washtucna area of Adams Co. with additional birding made at "migrants traps" in nearby Whitman and Franklin Cos. We began the trip on the afternoon of the 24th in the Vantage area that produced several nice highlights along with a short visit made earlier in the day to the Elk Heights "burn". Our complete species list came to 135 species over the Memorial weekend including several key highlights with most areas being fairly productive. The weather was superb on the 24th,25th and 26,but on the morning of the 27 the weather turned very windy with scattered rain showers in the Washtucna area. Conditions remained very windy and blustery on the 27th with rain overnight then continued more windy areas on the 28th,which hampered birding efforts since the wind was blowing from the south. Despite the bad weather towards the end of our trip we enjoyed most occasions birding at some of our most favorite migrant traps in Washington!

Our best and most rarest highlight of the trip was a PHILADELPHIA VIREO photographed in Washtucna at Bassett Park during the early afternoon of the 25th,which remained for only a few minutes in an Elm tree before flying off and could not be relocated. The bird was quite active,as it foraged only on the outer limbs of the tree and never moving into the tree for bugs. This particular Elm tree held the greatest amounts of passerines than any other tree or bush at Bassett Park and we later learned that the tree was infested by some type of insect since we located many curled up leaves with a tiny gray mass of insects in them. If other areas in and around Bassett Park were slow we could always depend on that same Elma tree to have birds in it with normally good numbers of Wilson's Warblers being the most predominantly species noted. A LEAST FLYCATCHER was observed in this Elma tree on the afternoon of the 25th.

The Philadelphia Vireo showed a definite facial contrast that was much different than any Warbling Vireo we observed over the 5 days. The particular bird showed an obvious dark line through the eye extending to the lores,as well as white areas above and below the dark line along with the bird having a darkish cap. The upperparts of the bird were a pale yellow,which was especially brightest on the upper breast onto the side of the neck with palest areas further below and almost white on the lower belly to the undertail coverts. The tail seemed quite short compared to every Warbling Vireo we observed nearby. The bill was noticeably thicker than any Warbling Vireo we observed,which is somewhat noticeable in the one photo we have of the bird.

We have placed one photo of this bird onto our website,which can be accessed at the following link: http://www.pbase.com/godwit/recent_photos/



In addition our other notable highlight of the trip was an adult male INDIGO BUNTING briefly observed on the morning of the 25th in a dense area of Russian Olive trees just north of Bassett Park in Washtucna. The bird did not allow any photos to be obtained since it remained in such thick cover,but was seen well before it moved to an unknown location. The plumage of the bird was fairly uniform deep blue with darker areas on the wings with a contrasting thick pale bill. The bird remained quiet during the entire observation and was not able to be relocated upon further searching. An ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER was heard calling then observed along the cliff areas next to Bassett Park on the 25th.


Bassett Park itself was most productive during the mornings with a relatively good diversity of passerines,but this park also had slow times. We visited Lyons Ferry and Palouse Falls State Park and the town of Hooper on the 26th, and Windust Park on the 27th. All of these locations had some passerine movements,but Lyons Ferry S.P. was the most productive of these locations although this park was very crowded with people. The town of Hooper was nice to visit,but was the slowest area that we visited which could have been as a result of the time of day. Our visit to the Vantage area on the 24th was good with visits made to both Wanapum State Park and the Gingko Park area. Here, we located such highlights as 3 late PACIFIC LOONS along the Columbia River,as well as a singing male AM.REDSTART, a NASHVILLE WARBLER and a LINCOLN'S SPARROW at the Gingko Park boat launch area. Noteworthy sightings from Wanapum S.P. yielded our only Golden-crowned Sparrow of the trip.


A list of other highlights noted from selected locations on the following dates include the following:

Turkey Vulture
1 bird at Bassett Park,Adams Co. on the 27th

Ferruginous Hawk
2 birds flying above cliffs over Palouse Falls S.P.,Franklin-Whitman Co. on the 26th
1 bird along S.R. 261 north of Palouse Falls S.P.,FR on the 26th

Golden Eagle
1 adult bird soaring with a nearby mature Bald Eagle over Palouse Falls S.P.,FR on the 26th

Peregrine Falcon
1 pair along cliffs above the Snake River across from Lyons Ferry S.P. on the 26th

Prairie Falcon
1 bird flying over Bassett Park,AD on the 26th

Wild Turkey
6 birds at Bassett Park,AD on the 25th-27th
2 adults with 2 young at Lyons Ferry S.P.,FR on the 26th

Red-necked Phalarope
4 birds at the County Line Ponds,Grant Co. on the 25th

Forster's Tern
4 birds along the Columbia River north of Beverly,Grant Co. on the 25th

Eurasian Collared Dove
a maximum of 20 birds at Bassett Park,AD on the 26th

Burrowing Owl
2 birds along S.R.26 at MP 44(east of Othello)
3 birds along S.R.26 at MP 47(east of Othello)

Long-eared Owl
1 adult with one young a Windust Park,FR on the 27th

Common Nighthawk
5 birds at Gingko Park,Kittitas Co. on the 24th-25th
4 birds over Bassett Park,AD on the 26th

Common Poorwill
1 bird heard calling only at Gingko Park,KT on the 24th

Black-chinned Hummingbird
1 bird at Bassett Park,AD on the 25th-28th(with 2 birds there on the 27th)
1 bird at Lyons Ferry S.P.,FR on the 26th
1 bird at Windust Park,FR on the 27th

Calliope Hummingbird
1 bird along S.R.26 at the Sandhills,AD on the 25th
1 bird at Bassett Park,AD on the 25th-28th(with 2 birds there on the 27th)

Rufous Hummingbird
1 bird at Bassett Park,AD on the 25th(with 2 birds there on the 26th)

Black-backed Woodpecker
1 female at the Elk Heights"burn",Kittitas Co. on the 24th

Olive-sided Flycatcher
2 birds at Bassett Park,AD on the 27th-28th

Willow Flycatcher
1 bird at Bassett Park,AD on the 27th

Hammond's Flycatcher
4 birds at Bassett Park,AD on the 25th-26th(with 2 birds there on the 27th)

Dusky Flycatcher
3 birds at Bassett Park,AD on the 25th-26th(with 1 bird there on the 27th and 28th)

Gray Flycatcher
1 bird at Bassett Park,AD on the 27th(with 2 birds there on the 28th)

Pacific-slope"Western"Flycatcher
1-2 birds at Bassett Park,AD on the 25th-27th

Bewick's Wren
1 pair(possibly nesting)at Bassett Park,AD on the 25th-28th

Golden-crowned Kinglet
1 late bird at Sentinel Bluffs,Grant Co. on the 25th

Swainson's Thrush
1 bird at the Sentinel Bluffs,GR on the 25th
1 bird at Bassett Park,AD on the 27th

Hermit Thrush
1 bird at Lyons Ferry S.P.,FR on the 26th
1 bird at Bassett Park,AD on the 28th

Gray Catbird
1 bird at Gingko Park,KT on the 25th
8 birds at the Sentinel Bluffs,GR on the 25th
1 bird at Bassett Park,AD on the 25th(with 2 birds there on the 26th-28th)

Cassin's Vireo
1 bird at Bassett Park,AD on the 25th(with 2 birds there on the 26th-27th)

RED-EYED VIREO
2 birds at Bassett Park,AD on the 25th

Orange-crowned Warbler
1 bird at Gingko Park,KT on the 25th
1 bird at Bassett Park,AD on the 26th

Townsend's Warbler
1 bird at Gingko Park,KT on the 24th
5-6 birds at Bassett Park,AD on the 25th-27th
6 birds at Lyons Ferry S.P.,FR on the 26th

MacGillivray's Warbler
1 bird at the Gingko Park,KT on the 24th
3 birds at Bassett Park,AD on the 25th(with 6-7 birds there on the 26th-28th)
3 birds at Lyons Ferry S.P.,FR on the 26th
1 bird at Windust Park,FR on the 27th
1 bird a the Hatton Rest Area,AD on the 28th

Yellow-breasted Chat
1 bird along the "old"Vantage Hwy near MP 25,KT on the 24th
4 birds at Gingko Park,KT on the 25th
1 bird at Bassett Park,AD on the 27th-28th

Lazuli Bunting
1 pair at the Gingko Park,KT on the 25th

Chipping Sparrow
5 late birds at Bassett Park,AD on the 26th-27th

Grasshopper Sparrow
1 bird along the entrance road to Palouse Falls S.P.,FR on the 26th

White-crowned Sparrow
1 adult bird at Bassett Park,AD on the 26th

Pine Siskin
1 bird at Bassett Park,AD on the 27th




Good birding,

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