Aug 22 thru yesterday, Aug 26. I looked for shorebirds in and near the Columbia Basin.
The locals told me that the smoke from nearby fires had been terrible until the day before I arrived in Moses Lake. Smoke was not a problem at all while I was there. Daytime temperatures were in the high 70s and low 80s. There was no rain.
Some birding locations are dry at this time. Birder's Corner (Dodson Rd & Frenchman Hills R) is dry. Also dry is one of the 2 ponds at the STP off I90 east of Adams Rd. The other pond at the STP held no shorebirds other then Killdeer. Some of the Para Ponds in Othello are dry as well. One pond is still barely wet and did have a few shorebirds. Another water filled pond was full of very happy cows.
Overall the birding was fantastic. I saw 21 species of shorebirds. The biggest surprise was a RUDDY TURNSTONE at Soap Lake on 8.23 and 8.26. BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS seemed to be everywhere. In the 30s & 40s in some places. Lots of RED-NECKED PHALAROPES in several places & a few WILSON'S PHALAROPES too. I saw juv SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS at Lind Coulee and Potholes SP. Maybe the same birds. SOLITARY SANDPIPERS at Lind Coulee, Perch Point and Cow Lake in Adams County. No golden-plovers and only 2 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, one at Soap Lake and another at Saltese in Spokane, where I missed the Hudsonian Godwit by 2 days, but saw other shorebirds. There were 2 SANDERLINGS at Soap Lake. PECTORAL SANDPIPERS were few, at LIND COULEE and SOAP LAKE. Pectorals were also at Sheep Lake in Whitman County. I saw STILT SANDPIPERS at 4 locations; nine at Perch Point.
I'll put some videos of trip birds on Flickr later today.
Marv Breece
Tukwila, WA
marvbreece at q.com
Pbase Images :
https://www.pbase.com/marvbreece
Flickr Videos :
https://www.flickr.com/photos/138163614 at N02/
Youtube :
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHbkNzr4TaZ6ZBWfoJNvavw/featured
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