Black-throated gray warbler at Bennington Lake

There was a beautiful black-throated gray warbler in the willows on the west side of the trail this morning.  What a treat to see since they rarely visit Walla Walla County.  It was cool and windy for our walk, but we saw lots of great birds including a yellow-breasted chat.  There were several western tanagers, black-headed grosbeaks, Bullock's orioles, western wood peewees, lazuli buntings, western and eastern kingbirds, and warbling vireos.  House wrens and Yellow warblers were plentiful, but we also saw Wilson's warblers and heard a orange-crowned warbler.  We got good looks at a Hammond's flycatcher and the canal was full of tree swallows, cliff swallows, northern rough-winged swallows, Vaux's swifts and at least one violet-green swallow.  Seven spotted sandpipers were sitting on a log at the south end of the lake and an osprey patrolled the waters. Good birding!  Ginger

New Arrivals at Bennington Lake

Here it is May 15 and it was already so hot we looked for the shade.  The birds like the warm weather too because we had many returning species today – western wood peewee, eastern kingbird, Wilson's warbler, MacGillivray's warbler, lazuli bunting, orange-crowned warbler, Vaux's swift, Cassin's vireo and warbling vireo.  The great horned owl hole looked empty when we started our walk, but there was one chick sitting at the entrance when we left.  The black-headed grosbeaks, Bullock's orioles and western kingbirds were noisy, but not nearly as noisy as the house wrens and yellow warblers.  We still had to wade but it felt nice after the hot walk on the east side of the lake.  Especially nice, was having MerryLynn back with us today.  Her expertise adds much to our weekly walks.  Ginger

Oops!

I meant to say Pacific tree frog in my blog about the Jasper Mountain field trip.  Ginger

Jasper Mountain Field Trip

We had a picture perfect day to visit the Blue Mountains and the views from the road reminded us all of why we live here in this beautiful area of the state.  We were rewarded with birds, butterflies, wildflowers, and more.  Western bluebirds and tree swallows were setting up housekeeping at many of the boxes.  Although we heard more birds than we saw, we did get good looks at many of them.  Wildflowers dotted the roadsides with the star being the calypso orchids.  We saw nine elk, one deer, a garter snake, two Pacific tree swallows and a bear.  Butterflies included anglewings, blues, cabbage whites and more. Our leader, Mike Denny, once again shared his knowledge of the natural world with everyone to help make it a very enjoyable day.  Ginger 

Birds at Bennington Lake today

Finally, the spring birds are coming back.  Today we saw several new arrivals – Bullock's oriole, black-headed grosbeak, yellow warbler and orange-crowned warbler.  There were some interesting ducks on the water too – three red-necked grebes, a pair of ruddy ducks, 16 bufflehead and 10 coots.  Raptors included a Swainson's hawk, two ospreys, an American kestrel and two northern harriers.  The great horned owl chicks were in hole and there was a dead cottontail at the entrance.  An adult owl was heard hooting along the canal.  The water was above our shoes at Cayuse Falls, but it was a warm, sunny day so we didn't mind getting our feet wet.  Between the yellow warblers and the house wrens there was constant noise all along the trail.  We were surprised to see a Townsend's solitaire still present.  It seems a little late.  We had a total of 41 species today.  Ginger

Cold and Windy Morning

It was lousy weather for our Bennington Lake walk this morning.  We were all bundled up in our winter clothes again – not a good sign for spring migrants.  The only new returnee we saw today was a spotted sandpiper.  There was a surprise visit from a black-necked stilt.  The lake is very high with no good place for it to wade, so it flew off.  Today was a day of yellow birds – large flocks of American goldfinches and 12 western kingbirds.  Both were very noisy.  We saw and heard a few house wrens, but not as many as last week.  There were two ospreys and over 200 swallows, mostly cliff with a few tree and violet-green mixed in.  The only ducks were three mallards, six northern shovelers and four bufflehead.  Still no warblers.  Next week.....  Ginger

 

footnote* On Saturday there were yellow warblers and fox sparrows singing all along S. Fork Coppei Creek Road.