Hello Fellow Tweeters,

Every so often I can't resist the urge to chase a bird.
I've always wanted to see a White-faced Ibis in Washington, so we headed our
early Tuesday morning to check several of the places where they had been
reported. Our first ibis stop was the County Line Ponds between Grant and
Adams counties. We got lucky and saw the bird right away. Bill got several
photos for the sake of documentation.



https://www.flickr.com/photos/29258421 at N07/albums/72157694135238352 This
is the Flickr file for the better photos of the birds we saw, including the
ibis.



Having achieved that goal, we continued on, checking out
Para Ponds and Morgan Lake and then went east all the way to Walla Walla.
We looked at Morgan Lake for the Tri-colored Blackbirds that everyone else
has been seeing. The only males we saw were definitely Red-winged. Perhaps
the females we saw were Tri-colored, but I really can't tell them apart from
RWBBs. On Wednesday we looked for the ibis again at Millet Pond, near the
mouth of the Walla Walla River, where they had been on Sunday. We had the
pleasure of meeting MerryLynn Denny near there, but found no ibis. We did
see lots of Great Egrets, though, and one Black-crowned Night-heron. Our
next major stop was Steptoe Butte. Not as many birds as on previous visits,
but always an interesting place. On our way to Ritzville, where we spent
the night, we drove by Philleo Lake. We didn't find any ibises there
either, but Bill took a picture of the ducks resting there. In one shot
there are 10 species of birds, 8 of the ducks. A real Noah's Ark of duck
life.

One Thursday, we headed home via Stephens Pass. Heading
north on Hwy 17, past the cut off to Ephrata and before Ephrata Lake, there
are several miles of dry land littered with lava chunks washed there by the
prehistoric floods of Lake Missoula. Cattle try to graze there. At about 8
am along a stretch of 2 or 3 miles we saw 4 Burrowing Owls. We have seen
one there in the past, which is why we were looking, but never 4!
Definitely a bonus for the trip.

We missed seeing a lot of birds: hardly any sparrows, no
thrashers, and no Great Blue Herons. Maybe we were late for the sparrows.

Happy birding, Charlotte Byers, Seattle





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