I spent Thursday and part of the day on Friday primarily birding
Grant County but also making a few stops in Kittitas County and one in
Douglas County. Thursday morning I headed toward Steamboat Rock State
Park which was going to be my first stop but I ended up checking out
Soap Lake on the way picking up AMERICAN AVOCET and BLACK-NECKED
STILT.
I then stopped at a pullout on Dry Falls Dam near Coulee City and
scanned the surrounding environs. A few birds in the Coulee City area
included:

American White Pelican - 15 of them about 3 miles north of Coulee City
on Banks Lake
Black-crowned Night-Heron - 3 birds seen on the small island in Banks
Lake from the Dry Falls Dam pullout
Sora - heard
Virginia Rail - heard
Canvasback
Redhead
American Wigeon
Yellow-headed Blackbird

Finally arriving at Steamboat State Park I lucked out as it was not
packed with people (probably because it was a weekday), but could
imagine that this would be a real zoo on the weekends. Highlight at
the park was locating 3 NORTHERN LONG-EARED OWLS and a few other birds
including:

Bank Swallow - a huge colony
Bald Eagle
Vesper Sparrow
Yellow Warbler - many
Eastern Kingbird
Lesser Scaup
Ring-necked Duck
Ruddy Duck
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Bullock's Oriole
American Kestrel
Cedar Waxwig

My next stop was a hike up Northrup Canyon which is located almost
directly across the highway from Steamboat Rock State Park. Here I
had great looks at a CANYON WREN that was perched about 15 feet from
the trail and calling, as well as the following:

White-throated Swift
Calliope Hummingbird
House Wren
Lazuli Bunting
Yellow-breasted Chat
Say's Phoebe
Eastern Kingbird
Bullock's Oriole
Black-headed Grosbeak
Yellow Warbler
Northern Harrier
Cedar Waxwing

I then made a dash to the Waterville Plateau (St. Andrews) to make
a check for the Bell's Vireo which was reported last weekend, but alas
it appears to have moved on. I ended up locating a CASSIN'S VIREO
which was also probably just passing through. My next stop was Sun
Lakes State Park where I finally got my GRAY CATBIRD for the year, and
also had the following birds:

Olive-sided Flycatcher
Western Tanager
Lazuli Bunting
Bullock's Oriole
Yellow-breasted Chat
Canyon Wren
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow Warbler

The next stop was Wilson Creek to try for Tri-colored Blackbird,
but which eluded me again for the second time this year. Still some
good birding at this sight including:

Lark Sparrow
Great Egret
Ferruginous Hawk
Wilson's Snipe
Redhead
American Bittern
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Redhead
Cinnamon Teal
Western Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird

After a good nights rest I headed out early Friday morning to
Dodson Road and the nearby Desert Wildlife area. The first stop was
the I-90 Frontage Road ponds about 3 miles west of Dodson Road where
SPOTTED SANDPIPERS were putting on quite a show. Not to many birds on
the ponds but they included:

Black-necked Stilt
Redhead
Yellow-headed Blackbird

Next I was off to the Dodson Road / Frenchman Hills Road ponds and
the Desert Wildlife Area (entrance off of "D" SW). While driving
Dodson Road south toward this sight I did notice GREAT EGRET at
several locations along the route. Some of the sightings at these
locations included:

Forster's Tern
Ring-necked Pheasant
Wilson's Snipe
Cinnamon Teal
Yellow-headed Blackbird

I now began birding my way west and made my first stop in Kittitas
County (the Vantage area) along Huntzinger Road stopping briefly at
Wanapum State Park where I met up with Brad Waggonar. It was to windy
to do much birding at the park although I did observe a WHITE PELICAN
nearby. Including a quick stop at the Ginkgo State Park some of the
birds seen around Vantage were:

Lark Sparrow
Rock Wren
Red-necked Grebe
Eastern Kingbird
Caspian Tern
Common Loon

A stop along Schnebly Coulee on the Old Vantage Highway took in
VESPER SPARROW, SAGE SPARROW, BREWER'S SPARROW, and SAGE THRASHER.
The last stop was in Cle Elum at the Charter Road Ponds where I had
another GRAY CATBIRD for the trip and the following:

Evening Grosbeak
Western Tanager
Osprey
Warbling Vireo
Yellow Warbler
Northern Rough-winged Swallow


Cheers and Good Birding;

Michael Fleming
Ballard, Washington
michaelfleming01 AT gmail.com