Hi Tweets,

Last Friday and Saturday, April 29 and 30, Barbara and I birded around
western Franklin County in generally nice weather with scattered clouds.
Temps were in the 50s with a chilly wind at times. Although many summer
residents hadn't arrived yet, we still found 67 species in Franklin County,
and logged 79 for the whole trip.

First, a digression: On SR 26 at the County Line Ponds in Grant County we
found a good assortment of shorebirds: LEAST SANDPIPERS, DUNLIN. GREATER
YELLOWLEGS, BLACK-NECKED STILTS, and AMERICAN AVOCET. plus some dabbling
ducks and geese. We were interrupted by a visit from a MERLIN that stirred
up the shorebirds, but it departed without any prey.

We arrived about lunchtime at Scooteney Reservoir where we found a couple
hundred TREE and CLIFF SWALLOWS feeding down low over the reservoir,
accompanied by a lone BONAPARTE'S GULL in alternate plumage, that repeatedly
alighted briefly on the water to snare whatever insects were within reach,
then took off before dropping to the surface again, each time showing its
reddish legs. 7 WHITE PELICANS soared high over the reservoir, then landed
near the north end of the lake and kept company with RING-BILLED GULLS,
CASPIAN TERNS, and a single BLACK-NECKED STILT. Along the shore at the
campground were a dozen DUNLIN, a single WESTERN and.4 LEAST SANDPIPERS. Out
on the reservoir Barbara picked out four distant WESTERN GREBES close to the
opposite shore and a RING-NECKED PHEASANT up on the opposite bank. The
number of summer residents present was still limited, save for meadowlarks,
blackbirds, and White-crowned Sparrows, though we did find a lone WESTERN
KINGBIRD and several YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS.

After a couple of hours we headed for Ringold via county road 170. Underway
we stopped to watch a LONG-BILLED CURLEW fly over a nearby field calling to
a colleague on the ground. A few minutes later we stopped to watch a male
SWAINSON'S HAWK fly in with a small mammal in its talons and present it to
the larger female. At the Ringold hatchery we found 2 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 2
hopeful OSPREY nearby, and a RED-TAILED HAWK nest just being vacated by one
of the parents, revealing two fluffy, whitish heads in the nest.

The next morning we started at the junction of US 12 and Pasco-Kahlotus Rd
and found the BURROWING OWL at once, thanks to great directions published on
Tweeters. The pond on the north side of the road a couple of miles further
from Pasco was quiet, so we returned to brave a chilly wind at the Humane
Society Pond, where Barbara got on a LINCOLN'S SPARROW almost at once; on
the pond itself were LESSER SCAUP, RING-NECKED DUCK, a beautiful spring
HORNED GREBE and some dabbling ducks.

At Sacajawea State Park we dodged sprinklers and scores of White-crowned
Sparrows to find an AMERICAN GOLDFINCH and a NASHVILLE WARBLER. On the road
just outside the park Barbara flushed a BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON. Our final
stop was Smith Canyon where we found single SAVANNAH SPARROW, WESTERN
KINGBIRD, NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, 2 SAY"S PHOEBE, about 30 AMERICAN
PIPITS, 2 starlings apparently nesting high up in a cliff, and 2 ROCK WRENS.
No luck with sage species in the grazed-over sagebrush.

Our trip planning was helped by reports from Tweeters and the excellent
website of the Lower Columbia Basin Audubon Society.

Paul Webster
Seattle
paul.webster AT comcast.net
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20110501/5db32b9b/attachment.htm