Tweeters,

Ollie and I birded Adams, Whitman, Franklin, Asotin and Garfield Counties
this past weekend. There were long period of no birds; but we did manage to
find some migrants. Thank you to Mike and MerryLynn Denny for having
American Redstarts and Barn Owls staked out!



Good birds seen in Franklin County included 1 immature Surf Scoter viewed
from Cascade Marina, Pasco; Wild Turkeys at the Lyons Ferry Fish Hatchery
parking lot; 1 Red-necked Phalarope in pond behind Pasco County Animal
Shelter; and Lesser Goldfinch (heavily molting) coming to water sprinklers
at Palouse Falls State Park.



In Garfield County we found 1 Belted Kingfisher at Willow Bar boat launch.
It's listed as an abundance code 4 species for this county. Also in
Garfield County we had a magical time watching a group of 20-30 swifts with
1 Tree Swallow mixed in. The Swifts included a couple Vaux's, several
White-throated Swifts [very good views and clearly saw white throat and
flank markings] and many Black Swifts soaring seemingly forever. These were
seen in Umatilla Nation Forest between Clearwater L.O. (fire tower) and FS
4027, there is an old burn spot along the ridge. Also there is a short, (
old ? ) road driveway, more a vehicle trail, where we pulled over and parked
along the edge of road FS40. Then it is a very short walk through a few
live trees towards the ridge edge and a small clearing. The swifts were
putting on a show from about 4:30-5:30pm. I believe Black and
White-throated Swifts may be first for Garfield County.



In Asotin County, we found 4 Bairds Sandpipers with 1 Western in Swallows
Park. There were a number of reports of Bairds over the weekend. We also
saw them at Hatton Rest Stop in Adams County. Lesser Goldfinch were
visiting a feeder and we saw a White-throated Swift during our visit to
Field Springs State Park.



Good Birding!

Grace Oliver

Redmond, WA