Hey Tweets,

Today Louis Kreemer, Sam Shultz, and I headed over to Kittitas and Grant
counties from Seattle to try to get 120 species. The weather was and nice
despite the little sprinkle around 6:00 am, the birds were everywhere!

Our route:

- Railroad Ponds (Charter Rd.): A quick thirty minute stop for Pygmy
Nuthatch. Unfortunately, the snag where the nuthatches had nested for the
past few years blew over and we were unable to find any :( However, there
was a male Calliope Hummingbird and a few singing Nashville warblers.

- Durr Rd: A brief stop for the GHOW owl nest and for sage birds. Many
singing Brewer's and Vesper Sparrows with a single Sage Thrasher in the mix.

- Umptanum Rd: We drove down into the Ponderosa Forest along Umptanum Rd.
looking for primarily flycatchers and woodpeckers. We didn't get any
woodpeckers (except for a flicker and a possible calling WHWO) but we did
find two Gray Flycatchers, a Cassin's Finch, a Townsend's Solitaire, and a
nice flock of Red Crossbills.

- Umtanum Creek: Not too birdy but we did pick up calling Dusky
Flycatchers, Canyon Wren, and a surprise flyover of a Lewis's Woodpecker!
On the way down we also spotted two Wild Turkeys off of Canyon Rd.

- Lower Crab Creek Rd: An hour long stop in order to find Chukar and
Loggerhead Shrike. Although we missed LOSH, we heard one or two Chukar
calling from the rocky slopes and a few pheasant. A 1/2 mile west of the
road was a small mixed flock that gave us glimpses of a Cassin's Vireo and
a male Townsend's Warbler.

- County Line Ponds: We continued down WA-26 to the County Line Ponds, our
spot for stilt and avocet. Upon arrival we were quickly rewarded with 10 or
12 stilt and avocet in both sides of the ponds. We then scanned a little
more to find two gorgeous female Wilson's Phalaropes!

- Para Ponds: After lunch we rushed over to Para Ponds in order to get
Tricolored Blackbirds and a few more ducks. We quickly found around five
TRBLs with some Red-wings by the plant near Land O' Lakes Purina Feed. We
then continued down to the ponds for a quick scan of the shore. We then
found a single Greater Yellowlegs amongst a few stilt and a male
Blue-winged Teal on a mud island.

- Marsh Unit One/O'Sullivan Dam boat launch: We then sped over Columbia NWR
in search of night-heron, gulls, and terns. Despite a Spotted Sandpiper, a
couple Swainson's Hawks, a flyover pipit, and a flock of gulls, there
wasn't to much in the refuge that was new. We then headed over to the
O'Sullivan
Dam boat launch so we could look for grebes and ducks. Within ten minutes
Sam spotted a single Clark's Grebe soon followed by two more a ways out! On
the way back through the refuge we found a single Caspian Tern hanging out
with a flock of Ring-billed Gulls.

- Discovery Park: A long stop to rap up the day with W side birds and some
sea-waterfowl. We spotted a large raft of Surf Scoters, some Marbled
Murrelets, and a single Red-necked Grebe. Although searching for 45
minutes, we were unsuccessful owling.

At the end of the day, we had a total of 134 species!

Good birding, Alex Sowers.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20180505/1d8041f3/attachment.html>