Bennington Lake on Tuesday

Summer birds continued to arrive at the lake.  New birds we saw were eastern kingbirds, gray catbirds, and a western tanager.  They joined those who arrived in the past two weeks – lazuli bunting, black-headed grosbeak, Bullock's oriole, western wood peewee, yellow-breasted chat, and more.  The chats were noisy and visible as was the male calliope hummingbird that we always look for on the west side of the canal.  The fuzzy young great horned owls are always fun to watch, and we saw two.  The sights and the sounds at the lake are what make the walk so interesting in the summer.  Soon it will be hot, and we will be scurrying from shade to shade, but Tuesday it was a pleasant walk – looking at birds and enjoying the wildflowers and butterflies along the way.

Chats Return to Bennington Lake

On our Tuesday morning walk this morning, we heard the unmistakable calls of a yellow-breasted chat along the north end of the canal.  After much searching we finally saw it!  Not a long look, but enough to get that first glimpse of the season.  Bullock's orioles and western kingbirds were  more cooperative, allowing us great looks.  There were eight young tree swallows sitting on a branch near one of our nest boxes on the south end of the lake.  It was cold and windy so there were not a lot of other swallows over the lake.  The only waterfowl we saw were a pair of mallards and four coots.  Raptors included an osprey, a red-tailed hawk, a northern harrier and an American kestrel.  One young great horned owl was snoozing in a cottonwood along the trail.  Yellow warblers and house wrens were busy singing and a calliope hummingbird perched on a dead tree.  There were probably 50 chipping sparrows flying around on the west side of the canal with a few white-crowned sparrows mixed in.  Another fun day of birding!

Summer Birds at Bennington

The Tuesday walk started off almost birdless – and very windy.  There were just a few ducks on the water – American wigeons, mallards, redheads and northern shovelers, plus a double crested cormorant.  One osprey was patrolling the lake and we saw two northern harriers.   Two ravens were flying low through the trees, no doubt looking for nests to rob.  House wrens and yellow warblers were very vocal and a few brown headed cowbirds flitted here and there. However, things picked up when we got to the east side of the lake. First we heard a Bullock's oriole.  After much searching we found it in the trees along with several more and a western kingbird.  Then we watched a dusky flycatcher in the shrubs, and while watching it, saw a Hammond's flycatcher.  Further along the trail two beautiful male lazuli buntings posed for us on a tree snag.  Calliope hummingbirds perched in their usual places on the west side of the canal.  Back in the trees we flushed a great horned owl adult, but couldn't find the young.  Another Hammond's flycatcher flitted around in a nearby shrub and we got great looks at it.  The female red-tailed hawk was on the nest high in a cottonwood, and the male was letting us know to stay away. We also got nice looks at a pair of yellow-rumped warblers, and watched flickers at two snags poke their heads out of their nest holes.  It's always fun to see the summer birds return.  Next week there will be more.....

Bluebird Field Trip

With Tom Scribner leading the way, 18 people ventured south of Pomeroy to check bluebird boxes and see birds, beautiful scenery and wildflowers galore.  Mountain bluebirds were present at many of the boxes we visited although tree swallows also found them a nice place to nest at several places. We saw a Lewis's woodpecker at a burn area and several red-tailed hawks. We wound around the high open areas where wheat is the main crop.  However, several large fields were planted to canola and the yellow fields were a beautiful sight with the mountains as a backdrop.  We dropped down to the Tucannon River on Blind Grade and had lunch at a small park at the bottom of the grade.  Then it was up Hartsock Grade where we stopped to look for warblers. We heard lots of yellow warblers, house wrens, and one car saw a lazuli bunting. We went up Payne Hollow out of Dayton to connect with Jasper Mountain Road where we saw several western bluebirds and chipping sparrows.  At the bottom of Jasper Mountain Road we saw a black-chinned hummingbird and a rufous hummingbird. Total number of species for the day was 35.  Thanks Tom – it was a great day!