Wednesday thru Saturday I shorebirded several locations in the Columbia Basin. Birding was good. Temps were in the mid 80s: bearable for a wetsider. Thursday's wind kept bird counts down. I saw 19 species of shorebirds for the 4 days. Here are a few highlights.


8.23 Rocky Coulee, Vantage, Kittitas County
Loggerhead Shrike
Say's Phoebe
Chukar - 12 very vocal birds flew overhead from Rocky Coulee to Ginkgo
Yellow Warbler
Sagebrush Sparrow - in the trees at the river
American Kestrel - near the visitors' center this bird made repeated dives on disapproving Western Meadowlarks on the ground


8.23 9th St Ponds, south of Ephrata, Grant County
Solitary Sandpiper - 1
Spotted Sandpiper - 1 Killdeer


8.23 Soap Lake, Grant County
Forster's Terns - 9
Red-necked Phalarope - 26 (I suspect there were more I didn't see)
Wilson's Phalarope - 4 some at south end & some at north
Least Sandpiper - 1
Black-necked Stilt - 1


8.23 Coulee City STP, Grant County
American Avocet - 2
Western Sandpiper - 16
Greater Yellowlegs - 1
Lesser Yellowlegs - 1
Red-necked Phalarope - 3
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Bonaparte's Gull - nice looks at a very fresh juvenile


8.24 Soap Lake, Grant Count y
Red-necked Phalarope - over 200
Wilson's Phalarope - 6
Spotted Sandpiper - 1
Black-necked Stilt - 5
Least Sandpiper - 1
Western Sandpiper - 1


8.24 Perch Point, Grant County
Wilson's Snipe - 2
Spotted Sandpiper - 4
Forster's Tern 1
Long-billed Dowitcher - 1
Least Sandpiper - 3
Western Sandpiper - 10
Baird's Sandpiper - 1
Greater Yellowlegs - 1


8.24 Lind Coulee, Grant County
Greater Yellowlegs - 2
Baird's Sandpiper - 2
Western Sandpiper -
Franklin's Gull - 1 juv
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1 juv
Long-billed Dowitcher - 17 (2 in basic & 2 juv)
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 1
STILT SANDPIPER - 26


8.24 Potholes State Park Boat Launch, Grant County
Baird's Sandpiper - 8
Bonaparte's gulls - very vocal; fun to listen to
Forster's Tern - a lot
Black Tern - 2 with Forster's


8.24 Para Ponds, Adams County
EXTREMELY WINDY. A few birds were hunkered down in the grass at the pond edge. Difficult to find.
Least Sandpiper - 6
Baird's Sandpiper - 1
Black-necked Stilt - 1
Killdeer - 1
Red-necked Phalarope - 12
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Common Nighthawk - 1


8.25 Sprague Lake, Adams County
Wilson's Snipe
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Red-necked Phalarope - 200+


8.25 Sprague Lake STP, Lincoln County
Wilson's Phalarope - 35


8.25 Sheep Lake, Whitman County - lots of water; no mud
Red-necked Phalarope - 1


8.25 Crooked Knee Lake, Whitman County - much water, no mud
River Otter - 5


8.25 Cow Lake, Adams County - much water, little mud
saw no shorebirds


8.26 Perch Point, Grant County
American White Pelican - 37
Great Egret - 112
Spotted Sandpiper - 2
Least Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper - 2
Stilt Sandpiper - 1
Lesser Yellowlegs - 6
Killdeer


8.26 Lind Coulee, Grant County
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER - 1 seen from short, dusty access northwest of parking area (M Street) on mud below
Stilt Sandpiper - 1 at above location and a few more farther up the coulee


8.26 Grant/Adams County Line Ponds on Hwy 26
Least Sandpiper - 6
Western Sandpiper - 10
Red-necked Phalarope - 6
Killdeer
Semipalmated Plover - 1 juv (my only SEPL for the trip)


I hope to have a few images/movies uploaded by this evening.












Marv Breece
Tukwila, WA
marvbreece at q.com