Subject: [Tweeters] Scoter Tour, but no Benton Black Phoebe
Date: Fri Oct 23 13:25:35 PDT 2020
From: plkoyama at comcast.net - plkoyama at comcast.net

Tweets,
David and I headed to E WA on Mon, 10/19 in hopes of escaping the rain here. We did, but it was brrrr cold in some areas, especially the bird-dead Sherman Pass on 10/21. The larch trees there, however, were fantastic. Our trip targets were WW Crossbills that have been frequently seen at Mt Spokane this season and the LT Duck in Stevens Co. And on the way we'd check for scoters "wherever." It turned out to be the scoter tour! We wonder if this is annual and we just haven't noticed due to faraway travels at this time of year, or if this is an unusual year.

On 10/19 we stopped in Kittitas Co for the reported 1st-winter Iceland (Thayer's) Gull at the Huntzinger Boat Launch. It eventually flew in and landed on the rocks. There were also young Herring Gulls for good comparison, and a Bonaparte's Gull (Code 3) on the water-;it appears to have a hurt wing. We hadn't been to this site before-;it looks pretty new, as there are no holes shot in the signs-;yet, ha ha! On the way back to I-90, there was a close-in female Code 3 Surf Scoter on the river.

In Spokane we stopped at Willow and Granite Lakes, at the Four Lakes exit off I-90. We had 2 female Surf Scoters on Willow lake on 10/19 (and 3 on a repeat visit on 10/22.) Also, on 10/19 there was a female SUSC on Medical Lake. We then headed to Mt Spokane, where the crossbill flock, 20-30, was in the trees at the pull-in to the X-C Ski parking lot. They soon came down to pick at the gravel, and we had 3 WW Crossbills almost at our feet. It was magnificent!! We also had Merlin in the lot, dispersing the crossbills, and a Peregrine at the Valley View trail clearing. On 10/20, We headed north and found the gorgeous, tail a-wagging, male Long-tailed Duck in Steven Co. at the mouth of the Colville R on Hwy 25, but on the opposite side of the road as the parking pullout. It was hanging with a pair of Hooded Mergs and took almost 30 min to eventually come into sight.

Late in the afternoon on 10/20 at Haag Cove off the Inchelium Hwy, we had a Code 4 Canvasback in with a flock of mostly Redheads, and on 10/21 in the morning, we had a fairly close flyby of 3 White-winged Scoters (also Code 4) at the same site. We think they flew into Stevens Co as they went around the bend, but you can only be one place at a time, and we weren't sure where the line is on the Columbia R!!

We had planned to hit Lincoln Co, but on 10/22 headed for the Tri-Cities based on the many good eBird and Tweeters reports there. We could not locate the WF Ibis at Scooteney, and we need a bigger scope for those far-off shorebirds. At the quarry lake off the 240 bridge in Richland, we located a female Surf Scoter, and we had the WW Scoter pair at Leslie Groves towards the east end of that park. We had few gulls there, none were dark-backed. At one point a large flock flew out at the west end of the island, but quickly returned to the back side, out of view. And no luck with the rare Black Phoebe on 2 visits to the quarry area, 11:30 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. We did a long walkabout under the bridge and off the bike path after meeting a local birder who first saw the bird on that side, but no dice. We missed some good birds, but scoters in 4 E WA counties and our first Lower-48 WW Crossbills were enough for us. And all before the first snow over there!
Penny Koyama, Bothell
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