YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER AND YAKIMA CANYON

15 JUNE 2014



Ellen and I were the WOS leaders for the Yakima Training Center fieldtrip both June 14 and 15. Both days we birded the Selah Creek corridor from 6 AM to 1:00 PM and then did an ?extension? into the southernmost Yakima Canyon. Here?s the report for the 2nd day. The first day went to mostly the same stops and, overall, resulted in a similar bird list.



As this military installation contains really big expanses of shrub-steppe habitat, indeed on a landscape level, a visit here is always a memorable experience. Colin Leingang, Biologist and Wildlife Program Manager for the YTC, guided our tour ?down range.? Colin did a fabulous job, ably fielding our questions on both military activities and those on managing the incredible flora and fauna on this 360,000-acre installation. We all saw and heard many of the characteristic shrub-steppe bird species, Mammals, too, put on an exceptional show.



At our first stop along the side road to the ?Dump,? where SAGEBRUSH SPARROWS sang and posed nicely, we saw several BLACK-TAILED JACKRABBITS, a rapidly declining species in Washington?s Columbia Basin. Then we spied a LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE on a wire which soon went off to scold a COYOTE slinking its way slowly through the sagebrush. Soon, the shrike?s mate joined in the fracas, trying to drive wily Coyote away. This show was a great start to our day!



A stop south of Range Control in high quality shrub-steppe was great for displaying SAGE THRASHERS and VESPER SPARROWS. BANK SWALLOWS fluttered about their nesting colony on the slopes to the south, far from any water.



Along Cold Creek Road west of Range 10, one car had views of a GREATER SAGE-GROUSE crossing the road, flushed by Colin?s rig ahead.



Taylor Pond?s lush riparian thickets had a few late migrants: OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER and WESTERN TANAGER. NORTHERN HARRIERS flopped lazily over the rank grasslands, evidently nesting nearby. Two LONG-EARED OWLS stole the show here, though. We all had super views through the scope of these beautiful birds. For some participants, this was a life bird.SWAINSON?S HAWKS soared high in the sky and BULLOCK?S ORIOLES chattered in the cottonwoods. A MULE DEER buck crossing the road swelled our mammal list.



Farther east along the Cold Creek Road, we split into two groups for a walk around Greely Pond, another oasis in the shrub-steppe landscape. One group had an encounter with a BADGER, obtaining nice photos!



We tried for Grasshopper Sparrow near the Selah/Cold Creek Divide, where we had them the day before but it had turned quite windy and the sparrow eluded us. We did get good looks of BREWER?S SPARROWS, more often heard than seen, a characteristic part of the Sagebrush Sea spring chorus. Here, within view of YTC?s largest Greater Sage-Grouse lek, Colin related the installation?s program to preserve habitat and a viable population of this imperiled species. This is a huge challenge on the YTC where military training is the primary mission.



On our journey back west, amid the vast shrub-steppe landscape, we swung north to a side drainage of Selah Creek where Colin led us on a short trek alongside willow-dominated riparian growth flanked by low rimrock. We added SAY?S PHOEBE and ROCK WRENS here, and a few WESTERN WOOD PEWEES. We contrasted the underpart patterning and coloration of these birds with the silent Olive-sided Flycatcher we had studied at Taylor Pond earlier. Two GREAT HORNED OWLS, flushed from the willows, were new for our trip list.



Back at the entrance of the training center, we thanked Colin and headed north to the Yakima Canyon. At the overlook at Selah Butte, we were treated to a small band of BIGHORN SHEEP, while overhead WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS rocketed over the cliffs. For some moments raptors kept out of sight except for AMERICAN KESTRELS. Then, we caught sight of an adult GOLDEN EAGLE, being harassed by a PRAIRIE FALCON and were treated to a memorable wildlife show. The eagle quartered slowly along the precipitous slopes, with the falcon strafing it like a jet fighter!



Our last stop was farther north in the Yakima Canyon at the Roza Recreation Area. Here we took a walk in the dense riparian woodland starting on the north side of the parking lot. We added a number of birds tied to riparian habitat here, notably YELLOW WARBLER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, and BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK.



On the crags west of the river, we counted a big band of BIGHORN SHEEP, almost 50! Sadly, we saw only one lamb, Apparently the pneumonia which is decimating the sheep in the Yakima Canyon is especially lethal to young sheep.



Andy and Ellen Stepniewski

Wapato WA

steppie at nwinfo.net


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