Tweets,

On Sunday, Scott Downes led members of Seattle Audubon Society's 2011 Master Birder class on a field trip to Kittitas County to look for raptors on the Ellensburg Plateau and newly arrived waterfowl above and below Wanapum Dam. Setting aside their preparations for the class's imminent final exam, the students enjoyed a crisp, windless and sunny day driving back roads and the Old Vantage Highway with good success. It was an eight-raptor day, with Northern Harriers, Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawks joined in abundance by American Kestrels and Prairie Falcons. A juvenile Bald Eagle and lone Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks rounded out the raptor count. Bright afternoon sunlight highlighted different stages of molt of three Pacific Loons scoped from the Ginko Petrified Forest State Park Interpretive Center, and at least 15 Bonaparte's Gulls were resting on the bar below Wanapum Dam surrounded by Ring-billed, California and Herring Gulls. Above and below the dam, thousands of American Coots and Greater and Lesser Scaup floated in loose rafts joined by Common and Barrow's Goldeneyes and other waterfowl. 69 species were heard or seen during the day:

Greater White-fronted Goose
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
California Quail
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Western Grebe
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
American Kestrel
Prairie Falcon
American Coot
Killdeer
Wilson's Snipe
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Herring Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Steller's Jay
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Rock Wren
Canyon Wren
Townsend's Solitaire
American Robin
Varied Thrush
European Starling
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
House Finch
House Sparrow

Jim Owens
Mercer Island