Hawk Watch

The first Blue Mountain Audubon Field Trip of the season was held on September 22.  Twenty-two people joined Mike and MerryLynn Denny for a Hawk Watch on Bald Mountain in the Blue Mountains.  The temperature was in the 60's and the air was calm and filled with smoke.  Not the best conditions for hawk migration, but we did see 31 raptors of seven different species throughout the day—red-tailed hawk, northern harrier, American kestrel, Cooper's hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, osprey and turkey vulture.  There were other interesting birds in the area too including mountain bluebirds, Townsend's solitaires, yellow-rumped warblers, Cassin's finches and a very cooperative Say's phoebe.  We saw a total of 36 species on the trip.  The mountains are dry – we need a good rain!  Ginger

 

Mountain Chickadees and More Winter Birds

I have had three people tell me about seeing mountain chickadees in their yards in the past week.  We also saw one this morning at Bennington Lake.  While this isn't a rare occurrence, it is unusual for them to be here so early in the fall.  There also seems to be an influx of red-breasted nuthatches in town.  And, if your feeders are being depleted rapidly these days, there have been a huge number of pine siskins arrive in the past two weeks.  Add a large number of returning white-crowned sparrows to the list, and it looks like our winter birds are here!  There were also two dark-eyed juncos at the lake this morning so it won't be long before they return in large numbers also.

 

There were still a few migrants at Bennington Lake this morning including a Wilson's warbler, a common yellowthroat, a couple orange-crowned warblers, several yellow-rumped warblers and a VERY late yellow-breasted chat.

 

Watch your feeders – who knows what might turn up. 

Ginger

Warblers at Bennington Lake

It was a pretty good morning for migrating warblers this morning.  We saw or heard 3 yellow-rumped warblers, 5 orange-crowned warblers, 2 Wilson's warblers and 2 Nashville warblers.  Other interesting sightings were 2 Hammond's flycatchers, 4 red-breasted nuthatches, 7 American pipits, 2 Savannah sparrows, 2 Lincoln's sparrows, one each great horned owl, greater yellowlegs, sharp-shinned hawk and Cooper's hawk.  The Wilson's plover is gone, but it brought birders from all over the Pacific Northwest to see it.  We had a total of 47 species today.  Ginger

Swainson's hawks

Swainson's hawks are starting to gather in large numbers in the Lowden/Touchet area.  Look for alfalfa fields that are being cut or have just been cut.  Mike and MerryLynn saw about 50 of them in a field near Touchet yesterday.  Ginger

Bennington Lake Wilson's Plover and Clay Colored Sparrow

The Wilson's plover is still at the lake.  We saw it this morning along the little spit in the canal.  It has now been here for nine days, and MANY people have come to see it.  There were fall birds and migrants on our walk this morning.  The white-crowned sparrows are back in good numbers.  The most unusual migrant we saw was a clay-colored sparrow.  Other migrants included Wilson's warblers, yellow-rumped warblers, a Townsend's warbler, both Hammond's and dusky flycatchers, warbling vireos, western tanagers, a Lincoln's sparrow and a red-naped sapsucker.  Summer birds still present were house wrens, chipping sparrows, western wood peewees, gray catbirds, spotted sandpipers and yellow warblers.  There were quite a few Vaux's swifts swooping down on the water as well as barn swallows, violet-green swallows and northern rough-winged swallows.  We saw 46 species today.  Ginger