Bennington Lake Sounds

The yellow warblers are back! It was nice to hear the birds singing as we walked around the lake on a beautiful sunny morning.  Besides yellow warblers, we could hear house wrens, goldfinches, black-capped chickadees, a Cassin's vireo, chipping sparrows and more.  The great horned owl parents were hooting in the cottonwoods keeping an eye on the owlets in the hole.  We also saw a Townsend's warbler, several yellow-rumped warblers, and several ruby-crowned kinglets. The lake was full of bufflehead, northern shovelers, mallards, coots and a couple horned grebes.  The cliff swallows are building their nests on the concrete structure in the lake, the rough-winged swallows are doing the same in the parking lot bank, and the tree swallows are finding boxes and snags.  Kingfishers are nesting in the bank along the canal and in the cut along the road going to the parking lot. Every week will bring more birds!

 

 

Palouse Falls Field Trip

Joe Corvino sent me this report of the field trip on Saturday, April 19.  Sounds like a great trip – sorry I missed it.

 

"Thirteen birders joined Joe and Carolyn Corvino on a beautiful spring day for an all day trip birding the Palouse Hills and Palouse Falls State Park. We were fortunate to have Mike and Merry Lynn Denny join us and help us find those birds invisible to the rest of us. Mike took us up Donnelly road, which has been replanted in many places with native Blue bunch Grass. In addition to enjoying the singing meadowlarks and the Swainson's and Red-tailed Hawks, Mike treated us to a lecture on this unique ecosystem. As the native plants have returned, badgers and other wildlife have followed. Among the highlights of the trip were, of course, the Peregrine Falcons, White-throated Swifts, and Violet-Green Swallows at Palouse Falls.  But the real climax of a wonderful day was revisiting an active Ferruginous Hawk nest. There were three hawks around this nest, one of which treated us to a truly regal aerial display.  We rewarded ourselves with a visit to Ray's Diner in Dayton, home of the best soft-serve in the area. While the rest of us ate, Merry Lynn found several immature Purple Finch around the diner."

A Beautiful Morning At Bennington Lake

The Tuesday Walkers had a lovely stroll around the lake this morning. The trees are beginning to leaf out, the butterflies are returning, and of course the birds are getting more active.  There were tree swallows flying around the south end of the lake, Bewick's wrens and song sparrows singing everywhere, and the osprey was cruising the lake.  There were a large number of ducks on the water – northern shovelers, green-winged teal, bufflehead and mallards.  There was a yellow-rumped warbler in bright breeding plumage, a singing ruby-crowned kinglet and a early chipping sparrow.  MerryLynn spotted a Swainson's hawk far in the distance and a pair of northern harriers were cavorting overhead.  Several killdeer made a huge fuss as we crossed the dam – no doubt we were too close to a nest.  Many other people were enjoying the lake and trails this morning – fishermen, horseback riders, boaters, bicycle riders and kayakers.  Everyone was out on a beautiful day enjoying a place that is a real jewel so close to town.  Ginger

 

(I also had reports of Swainson's hawks south of Lowden this morning, so they definitely have returned).

The Osprey is Back!

This morning the Tuesday walkers were greeted by the osprey as we started out on our walk.  The Corp put fish in the lake a couple days ago, and like clockwork the osprey seems to know and it returns.  The lake was teaming with violet-green swallows plus a few cliff and tree swallows, all skimming across the water getting a new hatch of some tasty insect.  There was a breeding plumage double-crested cormorant on a snag.  Now we know why they are called "double-crested"  That plumage is only apparent when they are breeding.  A western meadowlark was chirping from a tree high up on the east side and there were still a few Townsend's solitaires around.  Every week will bring more birds in now.  The next couple months will be very exciting on our walks as the summer birds return.  Hope you will all get out there and enjoy their arrival.  Ginger