Hello All,

MerryLynn and I went out to see what migrants were in the west end of our county this morning. It was 76 degrees F by 11:30 AM, which is very cool for the first week of August in the Lower Columbia Basin. Birds of interest observed were.......

Walla Walla River delta-high water

53 Am. White Pelicans
5 Herring Gulls
3 Glaucous-winged Gulls
265 California Gulls
130 Ring-billed Gulls
5 Caspian Terns
3 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Western Sandpiper
1 Peregrine Falcon
2 Western Kingbirds

Two Rivers HMU

1 Clarks Grebe
2 Western Grebe
8 California Gulls
2 Eastern Kingbirds
2 Marsh Wren
1 Bewicks Wren

The Millet Field, Wallula HMU

27 Killdeer
1 Semipalmated Plover
9 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Lesser Yellowlegs
1 Spotted Sandpiper

Tyson Ponds

20 Wilsons Phalarope
2 Red-necked Phalarope
2 Greater Yellowlegs
95+ Western Sandpipers
7 Yellow-headed Blackbirds
7 Green-winged Teal
3 Cinnamon Teal
36 swallows, all species

Wallula Gap

Common Loon
Rock Wren


Last night my nephew and I were out in the field until 11:30 watching the aurora borealis flashing across the northern sky. We were up on top of Scenic Loop Drive ( 2708'). I listened for nocturnal migrants going over this north-south ridge and heard none. So the question is what affect this large solar storm we are passing through this weekend will have on those birds that are attempting to migrate? Will we find species out of habitat as they might be affected by the magnetic shifts on this planet during this solar event? Watch and report, never know what we may learn. It is unseasonly cool today, only 90 drgrees by 3:45 PM..
That is it for now.

Later Mike Denny








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Mike & MerryLynn Denny
Birding the beautiful Walla Walla Valley

"If you haven't birded, you haven't lived"