Tweets,

Gary Kelsberg and I were joined by Phyllis Moss and Jeanelle Richardson yesterday on a scouting trip for an upcoming Seattle Audubon Society trip to Birder's Corner. Our first stop at the Dipper Bridge on SR 10 over the Teanaway River gave us great looks at an American Dipper gathering nest materials for this year's installation under the bridge. Thanks to pointers from Carl Haynie, Deb Lewis and Hans Federn, we were able to locate Great Horned Owl nests, most with chicks, on SR 10, the intersection of SR 10 and US 97, and Reecer Creek Road. A Red-tailed Hawk nest is active on Lower Green Canyon Road outside of Ellensburg as well.

Further afield, we were rewarded with great looks at Brewer's, Sage, White-crowned and Vesper Sparrows, Sage Thrashers and Mountain Bluebirds at Quilomene Wildife Management Area, and Common Loons at Vantage along with Rock Wrens and Say's Phoebe. We missed on American White Pelicans below Wanapum Dam, but found Cliff, Northern Rough-winged and Violet-green Swallows along Huntzinger Road.

Dodson Road, Birder's Corner and County-line Ponds were treasure chests, yielding Blue-winged, Cinnamon and Green-winged Teal, Black-necked Stilts, American Avocets, Cackling and Canadian Geese, Canvasbacks, Redheads, Northern Dunlins, Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Barn, Northern Rough-winged, Tree and Violet-green Swallows. Though we dipped on Sandhill Cranes and Long-billed Curlews around Othello, we were pleased to wrap up our day with Burrowing Owls on Steele Road outside of Othello. A probable Trumpeter Swan surprised us rocketing out of a pond next to I-90W near Ellensburg on the way home, and we saw six Turkey Vultures circling over MP 70 as dusk darkened the Cascades. We counted 85 species for a long but enjoyable scouting trip.

Jim Owens
Mercer Island