Hello All,
Alex Harper of Florida and I birded in eastern Washington Monday and Tuesday this week. We started in the Liberty area where we camped and owled. We found only one calling Flammulated Owl, a couple of Great Horned, and two Spotteds. Also a number of elk, a snowshoe hare, and a coyote seen while cruising the dirt roads by night.
Tuesday morning we birded around Liberty, but the cold conditions prevented a lot of bird activity. Near the town we had a strange Carpodacus finch which looked basically like a SY male Cassin's and was giving a perfect Cassin's Finch song, but when it flew it gave the classic "bik" call note of a Purple Finch. The bird did not allow us to get good views to look for any intermediate characters, but it was intriguing nonetheless.
Driving through the Kittitas Valley we saw two Gray Partridges rocket across the road in front of us. Along the Vantage Highway in the Quilomene we had great views of Brewer's and Sage Sparrows and Sage Thrashers.
Arriving at Vantage we found quite a few migrants at Ginkgo State Park, especially along the shoreline near the boatlaunch. The highlights there were a SY male American Redstart, a Gray Flycatcher, and three Lazuli Buntings. Along Huntzinger Road we had a singing Lark Sparrow and great views of Canyon and Rock Wrens, plus a White-throated Swift that buzzed and narrowly missed our heads!
Cheers,
Charlie Wright
Bonney Lake, Washington