I lead a 3-day Portland Audubon trip from Portland to Walla Walla this last weekend. On day 2 (Saturday) we got the help of Mike Denny and RJ Baltierra who got us some of our main targets, Long-eared and Northern Sawwhet-Owl. We had great looks, but it took some work to find the birds. Best of all was that the Long-eared Owls never flushed. Eurasian Wigeon and Eared Grebes were at Hood Park, Barrow's Goldeneyes at Ice Harbor Dam. Thanks to both Mike and RJ for a memorable day!

On the OR side on our way to Walla Walla, we found the expected Barrow's Goldeneyes and both Hermit and Varied Thrushes at Deschutes River Park, Boardman Marina and RV Park yielded a Taiga Merlin, Varied Thrush and Red-necked Grebe. At McNary Wildlife Area we found our target Black-crowned Night-Heron, but also heard a Pacific Wren.

Our last day en route back to Portland was a mixed bag, but we got a bunch of nice birds anyway. The Blue Jay in Walla Walla did not show up early morning, but we found a large flock of Lesser Goldfinches. Millet Pond yielded the adult Harris's Sparrow, but there was a lot of hunting going on, so we did not linger. We also dipped on the Long-tailed Duck at Hood Park, but the female-type Black Scoter at the Tri-Cities Animal Shelter was again present (and with it Black-crowned Night-Heron, Eurasian Wigeon and Great Egret). A Prairie Falcon was perched up along WA14 east of Paterson. Our final bird was the Dallesport Ferruginous Hawk which showed well on a pole on the east side of the road. Western Meadowlarks were singing and couple of Yellow-bellied Marmots were out as well.

Stefan Schlick
Hillsboro, OR




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