I was supposed to go on a fishing trip on the
Yakima River this afternoon. I figured I would
just leave early and try to see the Eastern Wood
Pewee at Lee Williams' Trail's End Ranch near Lind
Coulee for the 3rd year in a row after it was
first discovered by Matt Yawney, who reported it
there again earlier this month. When I arrived I
first rang Lee's doorbell. He was home and we had
a great conversation about the Pewee, hearing aids
and most interestingly about what into a chestnuts
and chestnut ranching. Lee is not able to hear
the bird himself but has seen it and he pointed me
to a couple of its supposedly favored spots. It
was not at either one and my concern level rose.
The concern rose further when instead of hearing
the distinctive pee-a-wee of the Eastern Wood
Pewee, I heard instead the much more familiar
straight forward pee-wee of our Western species.
This bird was calling from the extreme northwest
part of the orchard and I started to walk towards
it accompanied by Lee's friendly dog. About 1/2
way there I reheard its call and within maybe 4
seconds then heard the sought after Eastern call -
but not from the same area - instead from an area
towards the eastern part of the Orchard. I turned
to go that direction when the Western called again
from the NW - definitely two birds. I was easily
able to find the Eastern Wood Pewee and watched it
flycatch and sing - the correct song - and got a
picture. This is exactly a year and a day after
seeing presumably the same bird in almost the
exact same spot last year. In 2013 I saw the bird
on August 25.

Very pleased by the find I made a quick visit to
Lind Coulee where there were many Great Egrets and
White Pelicans, numerous Least and Western
Sandpipers, 15+ Long Billed Dowitchers and a
distant Baird's Sandpiper with a single Black
Bellied Plover and a Spotted Sandpiper. Great
start to the day justifying the early start. This
is when the day got strange. I had a text message
that had apparently been sent early in the morning
but I had not received it until then. My fishing
guide was ill and had to cancel the trip. Sure a
good thing that I found the Pewee because the
cancellation plus an abysmal long drive in the
rain and the traffic would have been a real downer.

--
Blair Bernson
Edmonds