Tweeters,
This time Hans Feddern and I teamed up for a day trip to the "sunny" side.
The main route was from Federal Way to County Line Ponds, Para Ponds,
Birder's Corner, back to Vantage and ending at Bullfrog Ponds in Cle Elum.
I must be bad luck because it never reached 50 degrees and it was mostly
rainy much like my last "non-winter" eastside trip. However, the birding
was great and we got most of our targets. Here are the highlights:


AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN - Two on the river south of Vantage on the Grant side
at Beverly

LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE - One on Lower Crab Creek Road. We spotted it flying off
of some sage but it landed nearby and we were able to watch it for a few
minutes. A little too far away for pictures, though. A lifer for me.

CHUKAR - A few heard on Lower Crab Creek Road. We never got a visual, but
the calls were very distinctive.

RING-NECKED PHEASANT - A male and female seen on Lower Crab Creek Road and
several heard.

SANDHILL CRANE - Several hundred seen from Lower Crab Creek Road, and
several hundred more near Othello

SWAINSON'S HAWK - Had three near County Line Ponds and a couple more near
Birder's Corner. Got one OK picture.

AMERICAN AVOCET - Six at the County Line Ponds. Another lifer for me.

BLACK-NECKED STILTS - Over a dozen at County Line Ponds and several more at
Birder's Corner

YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD - A few seen along Lower Crab Creek Road, a few at
County Line Ponds, and lots around Othello

GREAT HORNED OWL - A very cooperative pair sitting out in the open at
Potholes State Park. Got good pictures despite the rain.

SAY'S PHOEBE - One at Frenchman Coulee and one at the Interprative Center at
Vantage

ROCK WREN - One at Vantage in the usual area.

RUFFED GROUSE - One at Bullfrog Pond in Cle Elum


A few misses also. The only warblers we found were Yellow-rumped. The
Othello Burrowing Owls were either out hunting or just tucked in staying out
of the rain. And we checked every blackbird flock but we were not able to
find any Tricolored. We also checked Frenchman Coulee for White-throated
Swifts, but there weren't any there yet. But we had a fantastic trip, I
got three lifers and we got 75 species. Despite the weather, I got some OK
photos which I've put online.

https://picasaweb.google.com/randybjo/PicturesForSharing#

Randy Bjorklund
Federal Way, WA