Bennington Lake today

Summer is officially here, and the weather is finally cooperating.  Birds were very busy singing, building nests and feeding young this morning on our walk.  We watched house wrens and downy woodpeckers taking food to young.  There was one western tanager and a western flycatcher calling from the cottonwoods.  Gray catbirds are plentiful this year - we counted 8 of them.  Other summer birds are present in about the same numbers as in previous years - Bullock's orioles, black-headed grosbeaks, yellow warblers, western wood peewees, cedar waxwings, and eastern kingbirds.  A male northern harrier hunted low along the hillside to the east of the lake and the osprey successfully caught a fish.  The trail is a little easier to walk now that the hemlock has been cut back somewhat. However, it is still over eight feet high along the sides of the trail, making it hard to find birds, especially the chats.  It's always fun to hear so many different birds singing along the trail.  I recommend you find time to go out an enjoy the sounds and the sights.  Just a short walk from the parking lot on the lower trail to the beginning of the hemlock is sure to reward you with a nice variety of birds.   Ginger

Field Trip - Wildflowers in the Blues

Fifteen of us spent Saturday in the Blue Mountains near Tollgate searching for wildflowers.  We discovered that the season is late this year.  Many of the early flowers were still blooming, and most of the early summer flowers were yet to appear.  We finally found penstemons at the Lick Creek Trailhead after looking for them everywhere else.  The scenery overlooking Lick Creek and at the Coyote Ridge Trailhead were spectacular - small meadows that were blanketed in wildflowers of every color and mountain overlooks at made me realize why I love the Blue Mountains!  We identified over 60 different types of wildflowers and shrubs. The weather was marginal, but we didn't have any rain so that was a bonus.  Although we weren't looking for birds on this trip, we did see and hear many of the mountain birds.  A hermit thrush seranaded us while we ate lunch at Coyote Ridge and we found two nesting pairs of Williamson's sapsuckers along the trail.  It was a treat to be able to enjoy the mountains and all of their beauty so close to home.  A nice finish to another season of field trips.   Ginger

Olive-sided Flycatcher at Bennington Lake

The best bird on our Tuesday morning walk today was an olive-sided flycatcher.  The willow flycatchers have returned to the lake - we had two today.  Other nice birds were several gray catbirds, black-headed grosbeaks, Bullock's orioles, western wood peewees and several yellow-breasted chats.  Of course yellow warblers and house wrens were abundant.  There weren't as many western tanagers today, so perhaps they are moving out of the lowlands.  A black-crowned night heron was along the canal, and there were downy woodpeckers nesting in three different places.  All of the birds were very vocal today.  The sunny, warm weather probably is as welcome to them as it is to us.    Ginger 

Summer Birds Field Trip

This morning was our field trip to look for summer birds.  The weather was great after a week of rain and wind.  The birds seem to be enjoying the sunshine also.  We saw 40 species of birds including most of the target birds.  Highlights of the trip:

 

western kingbird

eastern kingbird

rufous hummingbird

house wren

warbling vireo

Bullock's oriole

western tanager

black-headed grosbeak

western wood peewee

willow flycatcher

western flycatcher

lazuli bunting

yellow warbler

MacGillivray's warbler

yellow-breasted chat

gray catbird

great horned owl - one adult and two chicks

veery - heard only

 

One person in the group happened to turn around on S. Fork Russell Creek Road just in time to see a bobcat cross the road.

I hope you'll join us on our last field trip of the summer on June 19, or on one of the 3rd Thursday evening walks during the summer.   Ginger

 

Western tanagers

Walla Walla is full of western tanagers.  I have had people call or email me to say they are seeing them "by the dozens".  If you haven't seen them, take a look in the trees outside your yard - they are probably there.  Rooks Park and the Mill Creek trail are another place to look, as well as Bennington Lake.  Rodger and I were at Rooks Park this morning and saw them, plus many of the other summer birds.  We did see one unexpected bird - an olive sided flycatcher.  We saw another one on Russell Creek Road so they must be moving through.

 

MerryLynn and I birded Biscuit Ridge Road yesterday.  There were birds everywhere after the hard rain the day before.  Dry Creek was anything but dry and there were several impromptu "streams" coming down from the hills.  Recent arrivals seen for the county were veery, Swainson's thrush, willow flycatcher and western flycatcher.

 

Join Rodger and I tomorrow on our Audubon Field Trip.  We're going to look for summer birds along Foster Road and South Fork Russell Creek Road.  If the past few days are any indication, there should be lots of birds.         Ginger

Memorial Day Weekend Around Walla Walla

Interesting species seen around the county over the weekend included snowy plover, sanderling and red-necked phalarope at the Walla Walla River Delta, veery and willow flycatcher east of Biscuit Ridge Road, and an albino starling chick in Milton-Freewater.