Today, I traveled to Washtucna and then down into Franklin county looking for passerine migrants and hoping to add a few species to my Franklin county list. The sun was out as was the wind. The wind did seem to calm down a little in the afternoon on the way back.

My first stop was the little park in Ralston, where I flushed a GREAT HORNED OWL out of one of the trees. It flew west across the highway to another tree and proceeded to start quietly hooting. Odd that it was hooting alone unless there was another owl in that tree it went to. No other birds were here.

A few miles south of Ralston, I had to stop because three SWAINSON'S HAWKS were soaring overhead.

At Basset Park in Washtucna this morning (8:30a - 10a), there were a few birds around. As previously noted the small stream only has water running in it through half the park. I love the update to the memorial board! Also, here I birded with Larry and Jacque Goodhew for a short time. Nice to meet ya! Here's a short list of what I found:

Wild Turkey 3
California Quail 2
American Kestrel 2
Northern Flicker 1
Western Wood-pewee 2
Warbling Vireo 1
Yellow Warbler 1 (not 100% on this one as it is a fleeting glimpse)
Wilson's Warbler 2
Black-headed Grosbeak 1
Bullock's Oriole 1

I then headed south into Franklin county visiting Windust Park, Palouse Falls SP, and Lyons Ferry. I soon realized that summer weekends are the wrong times to visit these places! They were all packed with campers, boaters, and others.

I did find a wind free area at Windust Park that held a few birds. Included here was a very troublesome bird that almost had me running to call in a RBA! I found what I believe was a very young House Finch that was sporting horns! It had white wisps of feathers above each eye and also had a very pale almost flesh colored bill. It was very inactive and just sat on the same branch the whole time I was there. Everything else looked right for a House Finch. Here's the other birds I saw here:

Double-crested Cormorant 1
Western Wood-pewee 1
Yellow Warbler 1
Chipping Sparrow 4
Western Tanager 1
Bullock's Oriole 1

As I climbed up back to Kahlotus, ROCK WRENS seemed to be everywhere in the canyons. At Palouse Falls SP, the only notable bird was a lingering WHITE-THROATED SWIFT.

AT Lyons Ferry, I only visited the fish hatchery since the park is charging an entrance fee now (at least on the weekends). The last residence on the way out to the fishing area was the most productive. Here is what I spotted:

Wild Turkey 15 (with young)
Caspian Tern 1
Western Wood-pewee 1
Eastern Kingbird 1
Song Sparrow 1
Bullock's Oriole 1

On the return trip north just south of Washtucna, I found a very pale PRAIRIE FALCON on an utility pole. In Washtucna again, I decided to check the STP and was rewarded! My last stop here (last year) impressed on me that the place was done for. To my surprise, the STP had water and shorebirds! There were 5 SOLITARY SANDPIPERS, 2 SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, and 2 LEAST SANDPIPERS on the northern pond (the only one with water today). You can easily view into the pond from the north side.

A quick stop in Basset Park again didn't produce anything different.

Good birding,

Tim O'Brien
Cheney, WA
mailto: kertim7179 at yahoo dot com