Birds at Bennington Lake and County List Record

What a beautiful fall day for birding – warm weather, gorgeous fall colors, and tons of birds!  We started out with a Pacific wren.  Not that unusual for the county, but not a bird we see that often at the lake.  Next we saw a great blue heron adorning a dead tree.  Killdeer, greater yellowlegs and dunlin were in the mud and buffleheads and a western grebe dotted the water (what water there is).  We found two great horned owls today – one was sitting in a cottonwood that was brilliant yellow making for a nice photo.  Flocks of pine siskins, robins, goldfinches, cedar waxwings, juncos, white-crowned sparrows and house finches seemed to be everywhere we looked.  The biggest surprise was a PURPLE FINCH sitting in the top of a bare tree – calling.  The finch put our Walla Walla County list for 2012 at 257 – a record!  In addition, it was the first time one had been reported at Bennington Lake.  A northern shrike was in the shrubs on the east side and we had all three chickadees – black-capped, mountain and chestnut-backed.  Ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets were mixed in with the chickadees.  We saw a total of 43 species today.  Days like today are what make birding so fun!  Ginger

Northern Shrike at Bennington Lake

We saw our first northern shrike of the season at the lake today on our walk.  Other birds of note were flocks of cedar waxwings, a varied thrush, common mergansers, western grebes, dunlin, a greater yellowlegs and a large mixed flock of pine siskins, mountain and black-capped chickadees, ruby-crowned and golden crowned kinglets and juncos. It was cold and little drizzly at first, but the colors are still beautiful at the lake.  The water level on the lake is VERY low.  Ginger

 

Rough-legged hawks

Rough-legged hawks are starting to show up in the Walla Walla area.  The best place to look for them is north of town.  They were spotted this weekend on Sudbury Road and on the Ayers Road just south of Clyde.  A Harlan's red-tailed hawk was also seen – another northern bird that comes down for the winter.  Ginger

Field Trip - October 20

It was a Winnie the Pooh "blustery day" for our Field Trip on Saturday.  Nine of us looked for raptors and other birds in the Lowden/Touchet area.  There were many northern harriers, kestrels, and red-tailed hawks.  It was fun watching them maneuvering in the wind. Other highlights included three long-billed dowitchers, a great horned owl and wild turkeys.  Ginger

 

Birds on the Move

There have been some great birds seen in the Walla Walla area the past week.  Be on the lookout for white-throated sparrows, golden-crowned sparrows, evening grosbeaks, Anna's hummingbirds, mountain chickadees and more.  Pygmy nuthatches have been seen in the Tri-Cities and at Lyon's Ferry, so watch for them too.  Pine siskins and red-breasted nuthatches are still being seen in unusually high numbers.  Ginger