Yesterday afternoon, my dad Roger and I headed west to do a bit of owling in Kittitas County. But first, we snagged 2 WHITE-FACED IBIS and a GREAT EGRET at the Sprague sewer ponds, both reported by Jim Acton and others recently.

Ginko State Park was crawling with Memorial Day weekend campers and on top of that the wind was howling, so we didn't spend much time. Along the Old Vantage Hwy we easily saw Brewer's and Sage Sparrows, and Sage Thrashers.

Owling was generally slow around Liberty, although we had a calling FLAMMULATED OWL and a couple Great Horned Owls. We ran into Bill Tweit and Bruce LaBar while owling, and after hearing about a big group planning on birding the migrant traps the next day, we ended up changing our plans and heading east to spend what was left of the night in Washtucna.

There was a mini "convention" that began at Washtucna in the morning (5/24). Birders present included Ryan Shaw, Ryan Merrill, Charlie Wright, Steve Mlodinow, Bob Flores, Brad Waggoner, Bruce LaBar, Bill Tweit, Taylor Brooks, and Ruth Sullivan. Many of them had already birded the area the day before but we covered it again. A number of birds were around including a couple Willow Flycatchers and a Pacific-slope, a Lincoln's Sparrow, a few Swainson's Thrushes (including a Russet-backed seen by Charlie), more Hermit Thrushes, and good numbers of MacGillivray's Warblers among Wilson's Warblers. No rarities, and generally low numbers.

Most of the group then headed on to Palouse Falls in Franklin County. While searching the edge of the picnic area on the south side of the park, I happened on a roosting FLAMMULATED OWL! What a shocker. Everyone had fantastic views of this 1st county record, and Ryan Shaw, Ryan Merrill, and I will be posting photos to our flickr sites soon! It was incredible to study the tiny owl from such a close distance, virtually unheard of for this species.

Then it was on to Lyons Ferry. We had a RED-EYED VIREO near the canoe launch, and a roosting Barn Owl found by Steve and Bob earlier. Also had a Hermit Thrush, a Swainson's Thrush, more Wilson's and MacGillivray's Warblers and 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler, a "Western" Flycatcher and a Dusky Flycatcher.

While the rest of the group headed for the WW River Delta, my dad and I poked around in the edge of Columbia County for a bit and then met up with a few friends coming north from Walla Walla. We dropped in to Palouse Falls to show them the Flammulated Owl, only to hear it had gotten nervous earlier and flown. We started searching somewhat hopelessly, and a few minutes later Dad spotted the bird perched about 50 feet away a bit more in the open (though still incredibly camouflaged and well spotted!), though in a much better place for photography. This was one incredible bird and it was awesome that such a large group got to see it. Lots of people just hanging out in the park got to see it as well.

I'm sure others will chime in with additional sightings from the weekend. It was great fun birding with so many top notch westside birders!

Michael and Roger Woodruff
Spokane, WA

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