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May 6-7, 2006

All participants met at a predetermined spot Friday night for a breezy night of sleeping under the stars. Little did we know that the wind was only going to get much stronger to where at one point walking and opening our car doors wasn't easy. The worst wind was Sunday morning on the western rim of the Tucannon River where many new wind generating machines now grace the green wheat fields. Below is just a short blurp of places visited and highlights at those places. A total of 139 plus species, perhaps some that I didn't get written down, was much lower than past years due to the windy conditions and this spring being much cooler and wetter making it later than normal. For instance hummingbirds arrived last year at Last Chance Store (Tucannon River) on April 17 and this year 7 days later on April 24.

Friday May 5, Anne Kahle and I took off traveling over White Pass where Barrow's Goldeneyes were on their normal places and a Gray Jay met us as we stopped to stretch our legs on the pass. Below Rimrock Lake along the Tieton River a male Harlequin Duck looked supreme standing on a rock near the edge of the fast moving water. American White Pelicans were nice to see north of Yakima along the Yakima River. A side jaunt to Potholes Dam revealed a Common Loon, Clark's and Western Grebes, and a Prairie Falcon. We then headed for Liberty Lake area and the Great-tailed Grackle. After much searching we did not see it so checked out the state park where Sora and Virginia Rails were calling. A new hole in the freshly sawn-off limb appeared to be the new home of a Red-breasted Nuthatch. The dry pine hillsides were very quiet. Again we checked for the Grackle and finally saw it on the grass quite a ways out. Anne got to see it 10 seconds before it flew towards the houses. We checked out West Medical Lake with not much due to high water and fishermen keeping the ducks hidden in the north cove. Reardan produced high water with a Virginia Rail calling. The Davenport Cemetery was crawling with migrants such as Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Hermit Thrushes, White-crowned Sparrows, Townsend's Warblers, a Lincoln's Sparrow, a Dusky Flycatcher and the normal. One last stop before sundown produced Wild Turkeys and down below Hawk Creek Falls 2 Dippers and 1 Greater Yellowlegs--the only one we saw all weekend.

Saturday May 6 a House Wren and several Vesper Sparrows were calling before dawn as we all got up shortly after 4 am. Swanson Lakes were high, but we did find a few shorebirds. We had Wilson's Phalarope upon arriving and while scoping the water a Least Sandpiper flew by calling and a Semipalmated Plover landed close for good looks. A single Long-billed Dowitcher called and headed west. A couple of Avocets were spotted on the eastern shore. 4 Ring-necked Ducks took off going west from the western most lake. South of Swanson Lakes we found our only Canvasbacks on a small lake--wondered if they were there to breed or not. Also another stop produced Sage Thrashers, and 3 Loggerhead Shrikes along with winnowing Wilson's Snipe and Brewer's Sparrows.

The town of Harington was full of migrants with many at a feeder west of the park. Here we had our only Western Wood-Pewee of the trip. Evening Grosbeaks, Orange-crowned and Townsend's Warblers with Gray Partridge and Red-breasted Nuthatches up at the cemetery on the hill.

Our next places to bird were Sprague sewer ponds and then on to the lake. The sewer ponds had a Bald Eagle, Spotted Sandpipers, Black Terns, Swainson's Hawk, Wilson's Phalaropes and the wetlands below and west of the sewer ponds had Dunlin, Lesser Yellowlegs and other shorebirds not easily seen in the tall grass. Around Sprague Lake we had Barn Owls, hundreds of Black Terns, Bonaparte's Gulls, and American White Pelicans.

Sheep and Crooked Knee Lakes were not very productive due to high water. Texas Lake wasn't either, but just west of the lake we found Rock Wren, Townsend's Solitaire, a Hermit Thrush keeping company with a Slate-colored Fox Sparrow, Great Horned Owls, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Below Texas Lake heading south we found both Hammond's and Dusky Flycatchers close by for comparisons. Burrowing Owls were the toughest I've had in finding them. This may be due to the high grass from a wet winter and spring. Long-billed Curlews were quiet as well.

Washtucna sounded promising since Harrington was so good. The main highlight here was the two Eurasian Collared-Doves. Not much yet. We tried a couple of spots for Grasshopper Sparrows near the Palouse Falls. Due to a late migration and winds we could not hear any.

Lyon's Ferry was however very good. We did not have much time to cover it well, but we did find Gray Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Fox Sparrow, Nashville Warbler, our only Bullock's Oriole, 2 Osprey. The Gray Flycatcher hasn't been seen that often in Franklin County as it is only passing through here. Same for the Fox Sparrow. Dark time fell as we entered Pomeroy and our normal eating place was out-of-business. Not knowing the town we tried the bar across the street and found it well lit and nice clean tables for tabulating our lists and getting something warm to eat. Much better than the original eating spot for this trip as voiced by many at the table.

We camped in the wind at Boundary Campground with many of us sleeping on the ground and during the night rain forced some of us into relocating to drier places. Hard-core birders will sleep through anything though. A few birds were calling such as Hairy Woodpecker, Red Crossbills, both Dusky and Hammond's Flycatchers, Cassin's Finches, a nest hole for Red-breasted Nuthatch, before we headed down the ridge to less windy destinations.

Mountain Bluebirds graced the fences and braved the wind as we headed down Blind Grade and stopped at the Hartsock Unit Wildlife Management area. A hen Turkey jumped started Kraig Kemper which burst into flight under his feet without any previous warning of it being there. A Cassin's Vireo, Bewick's Wren and Yellow Warblers were along the creek just inside the Garfield County line. A stop at Last Chance Resort to checkout their hummingbird feeders we found one female Black-chinned and many Rufous Hummingbirds. A flock of Wild Turkeys were feeding on the hillside across the Tucannon River. Vaux's Swifts were flying up the river. We could not locate any rails in the marshy areas like Spring Lake, but we did get Western Tanager, Warbling Vireo, Tree Swallow, and Golden Eagle. Going down the river we found a flock of Common Mergansers, another Tree Swallow, Dippers, and a lone Gray Partridge along the wheat field above the Tucannon River in strong wind.

The north fork of Coppei Creek produced MacGillivray's Warbler, Fox Sparrows, Sharp-shinned Hawk, as the main high lights. 9-mile Canyon had Grasshopper Sparrows playing hard to hear, a Rock Wren, a Loggerhead Shrike, and Vesper Sparrows were calling. We circled around the back way from 9-mile to Dodd Road and checked the ponds for shorebirds which included: Semipalmated Plover, Western and Least Sandpipers, Long-billed Dowitchers, Avocets, Black-necked Stilts, Dunlin, Wilson's Phalaropes, Bonaparte's Gull, Caspian Terns, Barn Owls, and all normal swallow species including Tree. The last stop for us as a group was the Walla Walla River mouth at Wallula Jct. 4 Forster's Terns and American White Pelicans were all the high water would show us.

This was a fun trip and made for those who don't mind the elements and hard ground for camping. I realize many were on the waiting list and would have liked to participate in this fieldtrip. Close to 12 were on the waiting list. This year might have best been done in mid-May due to the late migration. So if any need additional information on the route you can still go on your own, email me with any questions.