Evening Grosbeaks at Bennington Lake

There were over 30 evening grosbeaks in the trees above the parking lot this morning when we got to the lake for our weekly walk.  They were in the conifers and also in the Russian olives.  Robins and juncos were around in huge numbers as well as numerous song sparrows and white-crowned sparrows.  Other birds of note were 3 varied thrushes, a meadowlark, 4 Townsend's solitaires, an American pipit and a great horned owl. In addition to the usual red-tailed hawks, northern harriers and American kestrels, there was also a rough-legged hawk and a Cooper's hawk. A feeding flock of little birds along the trail near the parking lot included mountain and black-capped chickadees, ruby-crowned kinglets, Bewick's wrens, juncos and a spotted towhee.  On the water were 58 canada geese and 4 common mergansers.

It was foggy and cold, but still nice to be out enjoying the walk and the birds.  Ginger

Birding Bennington Lake in the Fog

When we arrived at the parking lot the fog was dense.  We could hear canada geese out on there someplace but couldn't find them (later we found 53 of them sitting on the mud along the canal).  On the east side of the lake we got a lesson in "bird mobbing".  There were several very upset ruby-crowned kinglets in the trees and MerryLynn's keen eyes soon found a northern saw-whet owl. What a treat!  A little further up the trail was a sharp-shinned hawk – one of two we saw today.  The second one flew across the trail right in front of us in hot pursuit of several juncos.  We saw and heard a varied thrush calling from the trees (in the fog it really was an eerie sound).  A Townsend's solitaire sat in the top of the junipers at the north end of the lake.  When we returned to the parking lot, the trees were full of cedar waxwings, robins, juncos, mountain and black-capped chickadees, ruby-crowned kinglets and a golden-crowned kinglet.  We had a total of 37 species today – a lot more than anticipated on a foggy day.  Ginger

Turkey Trot

Tom Scribner led another successful Field Trip searching for wild turkeys. Eleven diligent birders counted a total of 202 turkeys in Walla Walla and Columbia counties.  The weather changed as the day went on with a few sprinkles, a little sun but warm temperatures throughout the day.  The fall colors were spectacular! Although we dipped on owls this trip, we did see a total of 32 species.  We also saw a fox and many deer (both alive in the fields and dead by the side of the road).  It was a fun trip!  Ginger