Tweets ? returning from Spokane yesterday afternoon and this morning, we checked out some of the along-the-way spots and found some good birds, including 14 species of shorebirds at Hatton Coulee Rest Area! (See below)

Yesterday, AUGUST 23:

Sprague STP: Probably 100 RED-NECKED PHALAROPE

Sprague Lake Lincoln Co: About a dozen FRANKLIN?S GULLS and a PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER

The WDFW access site on the Adams Co. side is closed until sometime in September! Just along the main road, we had a MERLIN.


Today, AUGUST 24:

Bassett Park, Washtucna: Lots of WESTERN TANAGERS but only four species of warbler (and not many individuals): ORANGE-CROWNED, YELLOW, YELLOW-RUMPED, and WILSON?S WARBLERS. One YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT near the water tank. Only 3 species of flycatcher: PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, and EASTERN and WESTERN KINGBIRD.

Washtucna STP: two HORNED GREBE ? seemed a strange spot, strange timing

Hatton Coulee Rest Area: HOPPING WITH SHOREBIRDS:
Black-necked Stilt Maybe a dozen
American Avocet 2 dozen?
Killdeer Handful
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1-2
Greater Yellowlegs 15-20
Lesser Yellowlegs 10-15
STILT SANDPIPER 1 juvenile
Baird?s Sandpiper Half-dozen
Least Sandpiper 15+
SEMIPALMATED Sandpiper 1
Western Sandpiper 75+
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER 1 juvenile
Red-necked Phalarope Maybe 4

Ponds north of Othello had only a small subset of what was seen at Hatton Coulee, with none of the rarities.

County Line Ponds had geese, ducks, and a lone KILLDEER but no other shorebirds.

== Michael Hobbs
== www.marymoor.org/birding.htm
== BirdMarymoor at frontier.com