Finally: An ABC Birding Trip to NE WA

Richard, Mary, Kathryn and Ken near Kettle Falls Campground

ABC had a group trip, finally.  With all participants immunized and able to get away on a short-notice smaller-than-usual-group trip, 8 ABCers headed for the North East corner of the state on Tuesday June 8th.  Ken put the trip together with my encouragement and the group met at the usual Travelers Rest Stop at Snoqualmie Pass at 7:30 to get out birding and try for the NE corner specialties plus a few more.

Butterflies were not as abundant as expected on this trip, likely because it was not very warm. Loraquin’s Admiral here.

The big change in this trip was the addition of Jacob Miller, a young Mason County birder that Ken has been encouraging. He managed to break away from his family farm, Skykomish Valley Farms, and his enthusiasm as well as talented eyes and ears added lots to the trip. On the way across I-90 east we made a stop at the Ginkgo State Park Backcountry Trail spot to see the Black-throated Sparrow that had been sighted there the day prior.  It was singing  from prominent perches on the east side of the entry road, across from where it had been seen some years ago.  This was lifer #1 for Jacob and some others, and a FOY for all  but me, as the Pierce County second record bird on May 14 was a county first and FOY for me. Rock wrens were numerous there too and singing loudly.

White-tailed Deer are another eastern species seen in the NW corner of WA.

From here we spent much of the morning around Sprague Lake, in both Lincoln and Adams counties, after a quick stop at Peninsula Park at Moses Lake for Clark’s Grebe with several Forester’s Terns as an unexpected bonus and lifers #2 and #3 for Jacob. At the Lincoln County end of Sprague Lake we added Black Tern (#4) and Gray Catbird (#5) as well as Canvasback and a good variety of ducks and passerines including many Eastern Kingbirds (#6)

Western Tanager

On the Adams County end by the boat ramp two Black-crowned Night Herons flew past (#7) and we joked that we were hitting a rut, with between 43-47 species at every stop. We made a Grasshopper Sparrow  (#8) stop in grassy fields along SR -231 on the way out of Sprague, adding Vesper Sparrows along with Swainson’s Hawks there too.

American White Pelicans

Stops at Reardon Pond added our first of many Bank Swallows, and at Hafer Road in Steven’s County we managed to find a pair of Clay-colored Sparrows (#9) along with the Dusky Flycatchers (#10) before heading to dinner in Colville at a Mexican place with decent food but incredibly slow service.  After a 2-hjour dinner stop we got to Cottonwood Campground just after sunset, pitching tents in the last light.  Singing Veery (#11) and drumming Ruffed Grouse were nice bedtime additions. 

Red-eyed Vireo, one of the eastern species more often heard than seen.

It drizzled much of the night, making for damp camping gear for the rest of the trip, but the morning birding made up for it, with a mother Ruffed Grouse keeping a close eye on us as her young hid in the roadside brush on the campground driveway.  Red-eyed Vireo and American Redstart (#12-13) were easily seen in camp, as well as more calling and singing Veery, and a White-breasted Nuthatch (#14).  At the HQ we got our first looks at Calliope (#15) and Black-chinned Hummingbirds (#16) and then we headed around the auto loop at Pend Oreille NWR.  It was not that birdy but Nashville Warbler (#17) was found on Bear Creek Road, and at lunch at the McDowell Lake Trailhead a soaring Northern Goshawk (#18) entertained and amazed all of us while Jacob had the presence of mind to carefully look at a woodpecker that  we all saw fly in front of us but didn’t look away from the Goshawk, getting White-headed Woodpecker (#19) as a “Jacob only” bird of the trip.  On a hike to the lake a Golden Eagle was another trip highlight.

Wood Duck

After leaving the NWR we birded Amazon Marsh. It was difficult, but finally we managed to get onto a singing Northern Waterthrush (#20) along with American Redstart and several more Gray Catbirds.

Northern Waterthrush

At Aladin Road not much was new, and we headed for Big Meadow Campground to pitch camp. It was disappointing there that every Alder tree in the usual camping spot had been cut down, and on the hike many trees required maneuvering over, under or around making the 2 ½ mile hike seem especially long. Also zero of either species of 3-toed woodpeckers disappointed. Singing Common  loons and Wilson’s snipe calling and winnowing kept us entertained though.

The Big Meadow

This night was colder to camp out, but everyone survived, and after a hike alongside the lake without Three-toed or Black-backed Woodpeckers, we headed to our boreal high elevation stop of the trip with high hopes.

Bunchgrass Meadow

Bunchgrass Meadow was a new place for most of us on the trip. It is at high elevation, up a 10-mile road NF 1935 Sullivan lake Road near Ione, WA.  Here is a link to the eBird list we had from there where you can also access the details of the eBird hotspot.  Here we had big flocks of White-winged Crossbills, many Red Crossbills, at least 3 Boreal Chickadees, and a great experience of seeing a new beautiful place.

After this we stopped briefly at Noisy Creek Campground near Sullivan Lake and worked our way to the hotel of the trip, a really nice place called the Ione Riverview Motel.  It is right on the Pend Oreille River, has good rooms and beds, a deck right by the river, and was great.  A warm dry bed was just the thing after 2 nights camping.

Least Flycatcher

The next morning we headed for maybe our most anticipated stop of the trip, Calispel Lake, where my guests on Episode #100, Scott and Sierra Downes had 90 species on a recent loop.  We were hoping to do that well, and worked the area thoroughly, taking 7 ½ hours to complete the loop, taking our time, looking for every bird, and finishing with a crazy 104 species as a group. I think I saw 102 of these, missing two swift species, Black seen only by Jacob, and Vaux seen by several of us. Highlights were close up Northern Waterthrush at a lunch stop by a bridge, FOY Least Flycatcher near the Jct. of Middle-fork Road, and good numbers of Bobolinks in a couple of wet fields.  A family of Say’s Phoebes, 10 species of warblers (really great for WA) and a slow paced day made for great birding.

Ferruginous Hawk

Our last night of camping was at the Kettle Falls Campground, where we battled some high winds to set up camp before the wind died back at dusk, and outboard motors very early the next morning as fishermen took to Lake Roosevelt.  Highlights here were found by Jacob after the rest of us called it a night. Lark Sparrow and another at least two Least Flycatchers were on the peninsula behind the marina, and we got back out to see them the next morning. Pygmy Nuthatches were in a snag right in camp, and we headed for home with more birding to do on Saturday.

Ferruginous Hawk

The way home was all about finding a few lifers for Jacob (and great looks at great birds for the rest of us)  Ferruginous Hawks were found in two places, at mile post 82 on State Road 28 is a dilapidated windmill with a nest on the platform.  Three chicks and a soaring adult Ferruginous Hawk gave great looks.  Another two adults were seen later at Wilson Creek. 

Lark Sparrow

Road W near Krupp yielded Sagebrush Sparrow and Brewer’s Sparrows, Sage Thrasher, and Vesper Sparrow.  Lunch in Krupp preceded Wilson Creek where a Barn Owl was found by Ken in the canyon wall, the pair of FEHA worked the fields, and we all headed for home satisfied and happy, our state/life/year lists enhanced and feeling really good.

On the way home I spotted a Great Egret in a field off I-90 near Ellensburg, and we all got back to my place to head for home by about 6:30PM.

A great trip! Thanks to all participants and especially to Ken.

Group Photo
Jacob, Teri (in front), Ed, Ken, Mary, Richard, Kathryn (Photo/Laurel)

ABC FIELD TRIP REPORT – Feb 22-23 2014

ABC FIELD TRIP REPORT:  Feb 22-23, 2014

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Ken Brown planned to lead a 2-day field trip to the Hood Canal area, but the Strait of Juan de Fuca had so many rarities happening that we chased those for much of the time.  The weather was crummy including SNOW!  But we got some of those rarities!  Harris Sparrow and Bullock’s Oriole!  We missed several others we chased, but in the process found MANY Long-Tailed Ducks, Brant, Harlequins, and Oystercatchers came right up to us!  Thanks for a fun weekend twitching! 
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Pat Damron’s photos are here:
http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=57c37fb4104113f4&sid=0AcNHLJq2bNmbFOg
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Laurel Parshall’s photos aren’t posted yet, but will be soon.  Look for that set at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/llp_unesolitaire/sets/

Below are a couple of Diane Y-Q’s photos showing Geese in the Snow and our group.

ABCThanks Diane for the report.

Local Gull Identification Workshop Trip Fall 2012 #1

Ken Brown led some members of ABC birding and some of his class members, totaling 10 of us in all on a gull ID trip to Gog-li-hi-ti, the nearby port area, and the Marine View log booms today.  We enjoyed great looks at 7 gull species, unfortunately not including Slaty-backed and Franklin’s gulls.  Highlights were excellent views of Thayer’s, Herring, Mew, California, Boneparte’s, Glaucous-winged and Western Gulls. As always the company was delightful, as is not always the weather cooperated with overcast but dry skies until the very end of the afternoon.

Photos thanks to Kathleen Miller:

 

 

 

Be ready for the next ABC class with your assessment of species, age and plumage.    Have fun.

Ed

Flycatcher Study Trip: Not today

A small contingent of ABC birders went out to study flycatchers Saturday, and the rain, cold and wind kept the birds in that family largely out of sight and earshot, but we had a good time trying and found some other good birds along the way.  Meeting at Snoqualmie summit Vera and Jack, Mark and Kelly, and Ed and Kay started by the ski slope looking, listening and trying to keep warm.  A Lincoln’s sparrow gave a fleeting glimpse, and it took us a while to figure out that the out-of-place birds that sounded like Spotted Sandpipers were in fact 4 Spotted sandpipers in the wet and snow by the tow station.

The Hyak hummingbird-house had only a few hummers out early, and we tried in vain to confirm that what sounded like a Gray Catbird was one, left as an out-of-place maybe. Gold Creek was cold too, but yielded a dipper that Vera saw after the rest of us took cover in the trees.  Great views of several Townsend’s warblers along with a fly-by of a Hermit thrush who helped us all remember their “chuck” call after hiding was fun.  Still to this point not a flycatcher heard or seen.

We decided to flee the high ground in hopes that the east-slope would be warmer, drier and less windy.  It was drier, windier and if it was warmer then not much.  At the road off Exit 62 to Stampede Pass we listened for the expected Hammond’s flycatchers, but the wind and cold kept it quiet.  We did see our first flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, and several  Warbling Vireos gave us a show along with lots of Western Tanagers.

We were surprised to see the area in front of the parking lot at Lake Easton Campground was clearcut, and a big parcel of trees taped to be cut near the lake.  It was pretty quiet there too, and so we dropped down to check out Bullfrog Pond at Salmon-le-sac.  It was pretty there, we had enjoyable looks at Cedar Waxwings, Rufous Hummingbirds among others as a Veery sang constantly.

After a pow-wow we decided to drive across Umtanum Rd to Yakima and chase the eastern rarities up Oak Creek Road in the afternoon.  The drive across yielded most of the expected birds including the always enjoyable

except missing Mountain Bluebird, though we kept moving and the high winds kept the sage birds out of sight and quiet.  We did manage to stop to marvel at how two “rocks” could look like snowy owls, and when we brought out binos up we saw:

Two Baby Great Horned Owls sitting on the ground

with the ID confirmed by finding a watchful parent keeping a close eye on us from a nearby tree.  Check out the tiny “horns” on the lower bird.

At Oak Creek Rd we could not locate the Eastern Phoebe despite a fairly good effort over a couple of hours, and met several locals who had been there much of the day without relocating this bird.  I did hear what I’m pretty sure was the Chestnut-sided warbler at the area where others had found it, but never got a look, and  it sang only about 10 times in a row, then was quiet until we left about 5 PM.

Here’s our trip list.  See you all at the next meeting.

Canada Goose

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Swainson’s Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

American Kestrel

Prairie Falcon

California Quail

Common Snipe King WA US Jun 9, 2012

Caspian Tern this was a brief look driving on the lake just south of the Road to Wenas Campground. Seemed out of place.

Rock Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Great Horned Owl Adult and two babies off Umtanum Rd

Black Swift

Vaux’s Swift

Rufous Hummingbird

Lewis’s Woodpecker

Red-naped Sapsucker

Northern Flicker

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Western Wood-Pewee

Tree Swallow

Violet-green Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Barn Swallow

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Cedar Waxwing

American Dipper

Rock Wren

Bewick’s Wren

Pacific Wren

Western Bluebird

Veery

Hermit Thrush

American Robin

Varied Thrush

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Steller’s Jay

Black-billed Magpie

American Crow

Common Raven

European Starling

Warbling Vireo

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Townsend’s Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Western Tanager

Spotted Towhee

Chipping Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Lincoln’s Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Black-headed Grosbeak

Lazuli Bunting

Red-winged Blackbird

Brewer’s Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

Bullock’s Oriole

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow

 


June 9 Fieldtrip for Flycatchers

We will meet early in order to be at Robinson Canyon early to hear the dawn chorus.  Meet  at the rest stop at Snoqualmie Summit at 6 AM to try for flycatchers there and then go on.  Try to carpool up ahead. Contact me for details at edwardpullen (at) gmail (dot) com.  Focus will be on empid ID by calls and songs, habitat, behavior as well as field marks.  I am far from expert so am hoping I can find someone like Ken B, Charlie or Marcus to come along to help.  Anyway we will move more slowly to take time to pay attention to the details, and try to become better at these tough IDs.  Probably on from Robinson Canyon to other areas.  I’ll be watching tweeter for other birds in the area to look for also.

Bring lunch, drinks etc for the day.  Plan to be back by early evening.

Ed Pullen