Bennington Lake today

It was much easier birding today than last week – sunshine, balmy temperatures and not much wind.  The common mergansers continued to be the most prevalent bird – 104 of them.  The robins are coming back – we had at least 75 today and they are being reported all around the county.  Today we found the sparrow flock and MerryLynn was able to pick out a tree sparrow in with the many dark-eyed juncos, white-crowned sparrows and song sparrows.  Other birds of note were a Townsend's solitaire, a northern shrike, a merlin, two golden-crowned kinglets and two great horned owls.  We saw a total of 30 species today.  Ginger

 

A Blustery Walk Around Bennington Lake

What would make three birders want to take a walk in 30 mph plus winds?  No, the answer isn't a rare bird – it's "cabin fever".  After a week of icy/snowy weather, we saw the sun and decided to walk regardless of the wind.  The wind was howling in the parking lot and across the dam, but once across we were more protected so it wasn't so bad.  Of course, the birds didn't think it was a very good day to be out in the wind even though the sun was shining.  We only saw one bird in the tree tops – a house finch – and it was holding on for dear life.  We had to work at it, but were able to eek out 22 species.  86 common mergansers dotted the lake and 13 green-winged teal were tucked into a cove on the south side.  Juncos were abundant and five downy woodpeckers were busy on the rose galls.  One great horned owl sat in a willow on the east side of the canal. No, it wasn't the best morning to be bird watching, but it was good to be outside.  Ginger

Redpolls in Nine Mile Canyon

Mike and MerryLynn found a flock of about 250 common redpolls along Nine Mile Canyon on January 15.  They spent several hours studying them and finally found a hoary redpoll in the flock.  This is a new species for Walla Walla county – very exciting!  Ginger

Bennington Lake today

Is it spring?  We were all dressed for cold weather, and it was a beautiful day – sunny and warm (although pretty muddy).  We saw some good birds on our walk this morning including 4 tree sparrows, a bald eagle, a golden-crowned sparrow, 3 Townsend's solitaires, a great horned owl a northern shrike and a Wilson's snipe.  Total number of species was 27.  Ginger