Walla Walla Christmas Bird Count

On Saturday, December 14, the 40th annual Walla Walla CBC was held under overcast skies with temperatures in the low 40's.  Thirty-four observers saw a total of 77 species with an additional 2 species added during count week.  We had the highest ever counts this year for gray partridge (32), Eurasian collared dove (195), hairy woodpecker (14), red-shafted flicker (283), raven (154), cedar waxwing (621) and fox sparrow (4).  Hats off to MerryLynn Denny who spent untold hours organizing the count.  We all appreciate her hard work and commitment to making this year's count a success.

Field Trip

Sixteen  people joined Tom Scribner for the 11th annual Turkey Trot today.  My records show 69 to be the lowest number of wild turkeys seen (in 2008). The record high was 365 in 2007. This year we saw 73. The average number seen is around 230.  Although we didn't see that many turkeys, we did see high numbers of California quail.  We found one long-eared owl and several great horned owls as well as many red-tailed hawks, a bald eagle, varied thrushes, Townsend's solitaires, and a Bohemian waxwing. Total bird species seen was 35. Deer were everywhere and we saw a large herd of elk.  It was a cold but sunny day, and a lot of fun to be out birding.

 

Bennington Lake In The Rain

It was very windy in the parking lot this morning when the Tuesday Walkers started, but we saw a dunlin and a least sandpiper in the mud with the killdeer so that was nice.  The wind abated, but then the rain came!  Some of us crossed the canal and headed back to the cars, while the rest trudged on in the rain and mud.  There were green-winged teals, mallards, northern shovelers, common mergansers and a horned grebe on the lake.  An adult bald eagle circled the lake a few time before it flew off to the east.  At least one Anna's hummingbird is still around and was at the feeder.  Twenty seven species today – not bad for a VERY wet outing.

Swans Over Bennington

Shortly after the Tuesday Morning Walkers gathered at Bennington Lake this morning three tundra swans flew towards the lake.  They were followed by 13 more – all of them calling.  What a beautiful sight!  They circled the lake for about 10 minutes before they decided to fly further south, but they were close enough to hear the sound of their wings as they flew over.  Later they flew back over much higher and didn't stop to circle.  While walking through the "owl grove" we watched a young Cooper's hawk harassing two different great horned owls.  At one point it dove on the owl with its talons down, but the owl just gave it a quick look and kept on sleeping.  There were two Anna's hummingbirds at MerryLynn's feeder.  Other nice birds seen were several singing

Townsend's solitaires, a northern shrike, a sharp-shinned hawk and a pectoral sandpiper.  There was a nice variety of waterfowl on the lake, but nothing unusual.  We saw a total of 33 species.

Red phalarope on Bennington Lake

The Tuesday morning walkers found a RED PHALAROPE on Bennington Lake this morning. A first for Bennington Lake and a rare county species.  We chased it around the lake and Judy finally got some photos of it.  You can see these on the Blue Mountain Audubon Facebook page. Thanks to Sue for finding it, Judy for photographing it and MerryLynn for identifying it. 

 

The air was a clear and crisp this morning – a beautiful day for a walk.  There were  28 killdeer and 3 long-billed dowitchers in the mud. We also saw few singing Townsend's solitaires, 3 northern harriers, a sharp-shinned hawk, a red-tailed hawk and lots of ruby-crowned kinglets , black-capped chickadees, dark-eyed juncos and white-crowned sparrows darting in and out of the shrubs and trees as we enjoyed our walk.  We saw 25 species today.

Back to Bennington

It was nice to once again be walking Bennington Lake on Tuesday morning.  The most abundant species today was the American robin – there were about 100 of them.  Juncos, song sparrows and white-crowned sparrows were also numerous.  Townsend's solitaires have returned, as has the northern shrike.  Two Anna's hummingbirds are still enjoying the feeder and there were two long-billed dowitchers in with 19 killdeer in the mud.  A sharp-shinned hawk, a Cooper's hawk and an American kestrel kept all the little birds on their toes.  The leaves are turning and beginning to fall, adding to the beauty of the lake.  We saw a total of 33 species today.

Blue Mountain Audubon Field Trip

Paul and Judy Treman led a group of 14 people on the Audubon Field Trip on October 19.  We visited twelve places in Walla Walla and College Place where it's possible to find birds.  Highlights were lesser goldfinches at the wetlands area by Big-5, a sharp-shinned hawk, a spotted towhee and a ruby-crowned kinglet at Fort Walla Walla Park, wood ducks and a great horned owl at South Wilbur ponds, and a western grebe and Anna's hummingbird at Bennington Lake.  We saw a total of  36 species of birds.  Great outing!

 

 

 

Fort Walla Walla Birds

Since Bennington Lake and Rooks Park are closed, the Tuesday walkers decided to see what birds we could find at Fort Walla Walla.  There are many different places to look for birds there and MerryLynn has spent a lot of time birding the area, so we had a good guide to take us to the best spots.  Everyone got great looks at a white-throated sparrow – that was the highlight of the morning.  Other nice birds seen were hermit thrushes, Wilson's warblers, many ruby-crowned kinglets, yellow-rumped warblers, flickers and black-capped chickadees.  It was nice to bird a different area right here in Walla Walla, although we were wondering what we were missing at Bennington.

Birding Bonanza at Bennington

Migrants were everywhere at Bennington Lake on September 26.  The trees were full of ruby-crowned kinglets, Wilson's, orange-crowned, Townsend's, and yellow-rumped warblers, Cassin's and warbling vireos and Anna's hummingbirds. To top that off we saw 40 snow geese flying overhead, 3 great egrets in the canal and a northern goshawk flying over our heads.  The lake was covered with canada geese, white-fronted geese and hundreds of ducks.  I counted 56 species of birds this morning and probably missed some.  It was the best birding I've ever had at the lake!

 

 

Saturday Field Trip

Ten of us joined Tom Scribner for a fun outing to check on the bluebird boxes and install new ones along Jasper Mountain Road, and along several spurs off Payne Hollow Road.  There were still numerous western bluebirds on Jasper Mountain which is always nice to see.  As he cleaned out boxes, Tom explained to the group the difference in nesting materials of bluebirds, tree swallows and house wrens.  One or two of the boxes had unhatched eggs in them which is normal.  However, four of the nests had broods of young bluebirds in them.  They had their feathers and looked ready to fledge, but for some reason they died in the nest instead.  There were other interesting birds seen on the drive including large numbers of Savannah sparrows, a great horned owl, a sharp-shinned hawk, a white-breasted nuthatch and a hairy woodpecker.  We saw a total of 24 species.

Bennington Lake Townsend's Solitaire

What a difference a week makes.  Last week there were tons of ducks on the lake – this morning there was one horned grebe and two green-winged teals.  The skies were full of Vaux's swifts, barn swallows and a few violet green swallows. The south end of the lake was very quiet (we didn't even hear a song sparrow).  However as we walked toward the bench overlooking the lake, Sue spotted a Wilson's warbler and MerryLynn saw a Townsend's solitaire fly into a tree. That is our first solitaire for the fall. A Cooper's hawk flew out of the trees as we walked along the north shore of the lake.  Along the canal were several killdeer, two western sandpipers and a greater yellowlegs. 

Ducks galore at Bennington Lake

We counted 183 ducks on the water on Tuesday morning.  Most of them were mallards, with a few American wigeons, northern shovelers and northern pintail sprinkled in. It's really hard to tell ducks this time of year when they are all in eclipse plumage.  Bill size and shape is probably the easiest way to differentiate them, but that gets a little tricky if you aren't an expert on ducks (which I am not!) In a separate group were 14 western grebes.  We only birded the south end of the lake and it was pretty quiet.  A small flycatcher, probably a Hammond's, and a MacGillivray's warbler were the only migrants we saw.  It's another hot week in Walla Walla.  Where is our cool fall weather?  Ginger

Bennington Lake Walk

The Tuesday walkers were out early at Bennington Lake on August 13.  Nesting season is winding down, but we did find young birds: western wood-peewees, yellow warblers, eastern kingbirds, cedar waxwings and house wrens.  There were 3 greater yellowlegs with the killdeer and spotted sandpiper on the mud and the osprey was on his usual snag.  Other raptors included a Swainson's hawk, a northern harrier and a cooper's hawk. We saw or heard a total of 47 species.

 

Shorebirds

MerryLynn and I went to Tyson Pond and the Blood Ponds this morning looking for shorebirds.  We found several species: Baird's sandpiper, greater yellowlegs, lesser yellowlegs, semi-palmated sandpiper, western sandpiper, least sandpiper, solitary sandpiper, spotted sandpiper and of course killdeer.  MerryLynn flushed a barn owl in the trees across from the blood ponds while looking at a Wilson's warbler.

 

 

Shorebirds

It's that time of year when the shorebirds migrate south, which means it's time to start checking the Walla Walla River Delta, Bennington Lake and other areas where there is mud along the shore.  Long-billed dowitchers have already been seen at Tyson Ponds and Bennington Lake, and MerryLynn saw a greater yellowlegs at Bennington Lake on August 1.  Who knows what will show up this year.  Remember it was late August last year when the Wilson's plover made its appearance at Bennington Lake!

Mt. Misery Field Trip

On July 27, twenty people joined the Dennys for a trip to the high elevations of the Blue Mountains south of Pomeroy.  Our destination was Mt. Misery and along the way we passed through much of the area that was destroyed by the School House Fire in 2005.  Once into the undamaged standing forest we found a variety of firs, spruce and pine, along with many beautiful wildflowers.  We passed by many of the bluebird boxes Tom Scribner has placed on the highlands and I'm happy to report that it was a good year for nesting mountain bluebirds.  Two grasshopper sparrows sat on a wire fence next to the car and MerryLynn was able to get a great photo.  It can be seen on the Blue Mountain Audubon Facebook page.  Other photos from the trip are also on Facebook.  It was  nice to escape the heat that we have been having in Walla Walla, and it is always nice to be in the Blue Mountains.  Great field trip.  Thanks Mike and MerryLynn.

Bennington Lake

Even though we started at 7:00 this morning, the birds were quiet by 8:30 so we didn't see a lot.  Robins, western wood peewees, house wrens, goldfinches, a belted kingfisher, mallards and swallows were present and accounted for.  We heard warbling vireos, yellow warblers, quail and Bewick's wrens. A downy woodpecker was busy pecking at a rose gall and an eastern kingbird was on the wire on the lake road.  The best time to look for birds when it's hot is very early morning.  They don't like the heat anymore than we do so they hunker down and try to keep cool when the temperature creeps up above 80.

Bennington Lake this morning

We started at 7:00 to try to beat the heat this morning and it was nice for about half of the walk, but by the time we got to the east side the sun was beating down on us.  However, in spite of the heat we did see some nice birds.  There were three Caspian terns flying around the lake when we arrived along with lots of swallows.  We saw many baby birds today – killdeer, downy woodpecker, western kingbird, house wren, black-capped chickadee, yellow warbler, black-headed grosbeak, Bullock's oriole and house finch.  The black-chinned hummingbirds are still enjoying the feeder MerryLynn put up for them along the trail, and the adult kingfisher was busy catching fish for its young who were crying from the a hole in the bank.  There were three very noisy yellow-breasted chats along with the ever present sound of western wood peewees and willow flycatchers.

Just another day in the life of the birds at Bennington Lake! 

Wildflower Field Trip June 22

Priscilla Dauble led a very successful field trip into the Blue Mountains on Saturday in search of wildflowers.  We started at Target Meadows where we saw a sea of blue camas and pink elephant head louseworts in the marshy meadow.  Then it was on to the overlook on Bald Mountain to look at a variety of penstemons, scarlet gilia, and other beautiful flowers.  An added bonus there was a singing rock wren and a pair of mountain bluebirds.  Our next stops were along Summit Road where the wildflower list grew by leaps and bounds.  Our final stop was at a member's place on Weston Mountain where we were privileged to be able to see mountain lady slippers, phantom orchids, coral root and an emerging pine drop.  The weather was beautiful – a few clouds but mostly warm and sunny all day.  There is nothing like a trip to the Blue Mountains to renew and refresh body and soul!

Forster's terns at Bennington Lake

There were two Forster's terns at the lake when we arrived this morning for our walk.  Although not a first for the lake, they are rarely seen there. We watched Bullock's orioles, house wrens, black-capped chickadees, downy woodpeckers and red-shafted flickers feeding young.  Cliff swallows, northern rough-winged swallows and bank swallows all appear to be done nesting, but were skimming the lake for insects.  There was at least one pair of tree swallows still feeding young, although most of the young have fledged.  There was a lesser goldfinch at Cayuse Falls.  Gray catbirds, western wood peewees, willow flycatchers, black-headed grosbeaks, yellow warblers and song sparrows serenaded us all along our walk.  The cool temperatures made for a very enjoyable walk this morning.

Summer Birds Field Trip

It was a beautiful morning, we had a great group of people, and we saw some wonderful birds – who could ask for more than that!  We started on Foster Road where rufous hummingbirds were glowing like fire.  Other highlights along the first stretch of the road were gray catbirds, willow flycatchers, black-headed grosbeaks, yellow-breasted chats, yellow warblers and house wrens.  Further along Foster Road just past the bridge over Cottonwood Creek we added western wood peewees, lazuli buntings and a black-chinned hummingbird to our list.   We ended the morning by walking part of South Fork Russell Creek Road where we watched a great horned owl and two fledglings, added warbling vireo and olive-sided flycatcher to the list, and ended the morning with crippling views of a veery.  Thanks everyone for a fun morning of birding!!  Ginger

Birding Bennington Lake

The lake was abound with the sounds of summer on our walk this morning!  Western wood-peewees, black-headed grosbeaks, warbling vireos, Bullock's orioles, yellow warblers, house wrens – the list goes on.  And the nice thing about this morning was that we got to see the birds!!  A common yellowthroat was a special treat at the south end of the lake as were two baby wood ducks with mom and 8 mallard ducklings with mom.  Always nice to see the baby birds....  The weather this morning was perfect for a stroll around the lake – sunny but not too hot.  Two osprey fished the lake while spotted sandpipers ran around on the shore.  The yellow-breasted chats were noisy but not very visible; but a couple lazuli buntings were much more cooperative. Seven of us saw a total of 49 species today.  Not bad for a two mile walk!  Ginger

Bennington Lake Today

The rain quit, and the birds came out for our walk around the lake this morning.  The western wood peewees have returned – we saw or heard 8 of them in various places around the lake.  One of the yellow-breasted chats gave us good looks which sent high fives around the group.  Black-headed grosbeaks were also very visible and vocal.  Three eastern kingbirds posed nicely, and Bullock's orioles cooperated as well.  We watched tree swallows stick their heads out of snags at two different locations, and a pair of downy woodpeckers exchanged nest sitting duties in a snag at the east end of the canal.  A female flicker glared at us from her nesting hole in a tree, while house wrens and yellow warblers serenaded us everywhere we walked.  All in all, it was another good morning of birding.  Ginger

Bird Sightings

I have received several reports in the past few days from people about bird sightings.  The Bennington Lake walkers saw a horned grebe in breeding plumage, killdeer babies and an eastern kingbird plus many more birds on May 21.  Diane Reed sent me a photo of a male lesser goldfinch at her feeder on May 21.  Pam Fisher reported baby house finches at her house on May 23.  Chris Howard saw 4 Wilson's phalaropes, a spotted sandpiper, and an American avocet on Mill Creek behind K-Mart this morning.  Thank you all for sharing your sightings!  Ginger

Sparrow Safari Field Trip - May 19

Here is a belated report on the Audubon field trip last Sunday led by Mike and MerryLynn Denny.  Sixteen people joined the Dennys for a trip north from Walla Walla to Lower Monumental Dam.  Highlights of the trip were grasshopper sparrows (everyone got a good look through a scope at one of them), lark sparrows, gray partridges, white-throated swifts,  black-headed grosbeaks and Bullock's orioles.

Bennington Lake

There were more summer birds on our walk today.  We spent a great deal of time trying to locate a very noisy yellow-breasted chat at the south end of the lake, but had to be satisfied with a very brief glimpse.  In the same general area, we did get very good looks at a dusky flycatcher and the back of a lazuli bunting.  We heard several more buntings along the trail, but never got a front view of one showing its bright blue color.  However, we did get crippling views of a male black-headed grosbeak.  There were many western kingbirds, yellow warblers and house wrens – all announcing their presence with their songs.  Swallows and Vaux's swifts dotted the sky above the water and along the canal, and flock of cedar waxwings flitted in and out of the trees.  We saw or heard a total of 50 species today.  Ginger

Mill Creek Today

I just had a report of some good birds between K-Mart and Rooks park along the trail this morning from Chris Howard.  Highlights included two black-necked stilts,  an American avocet, several spotted sandpipers, a black-headed grosbeak and a lazuli bunting.  Ginger

Northshore Millet Ponds

MerryLynn, Linda and I went out to the millet ponds this morning to see what might be there.  There is a lot of water, but it is starting to recede, and it will dry up in a month or so.  I highly recommend you take a trip out there – it's a wonderful opportunity to see some very nice birds.  To get there, drive east on Northshore Road off of Highway 12 just past Madame Dorian Park at Wallula Junction.  Stay on the road for about two miles.  You will pass the kiosk pond and go through some sage brush before you come to the ponds.  You can see them from the road, but the best thing to do is follow the road past the ponds and turn right on an unmarked road that takes you to a small parking lot.  Park and walk along the road to the west until you reach the water.  You get much better views of the ponds from this vantage, but it's still nice to have a scope with you.  Some of the birds were saw this morning were American avocets, black-necked stilts, cinnamon and green-winged teals, northern shovelers, great egrets, black-crowned night herons, dunlin, a Wilson's snipe, a Caspian tern, an adult bald eagle,a solitary sandpiper, a spotted sandpiper, a Bullock's oriole and MANY red-winged blackbirds. Ginger

Bennington Lake Today

Summer has returned!  I remember not too many days ago we were freezing and wondering if we would ever get warm weather!  There were two new arrivals at the lake this morning – Bullock's orioles and a Nashville warbler.  Lots of house wrens and yellow warblers were singing with the song sparrows, chipping sparrows and Bewick's wrens.  The rough-winged swallows are nesting in the canal, and in the parking lot as well as in the bank on the road into the lake.  Tree swallows are in the houses, and we found one in a snag along the canal at a spot we hadn't seen them nest before.   Cliff swallows are nesting on the cement structure in the lake. There was no osprey today which is surprising considering the number of fish and fishermen around.  Several male calliope hummingbirds posed for us along the canal.  It's the time of year when you hear a lot more birds than you actually see, but with a little patience they can be found so get out there and enjoy the birds!  Ginger

Interesting Birds Seen May 3-4

MAY 3

Walla Walla River Delta – Sabine's gull, Bonaparte's gulls, western gull 

Millet Pond – Willet, Baird's sandpiper, great egret, lesser yellowlegs, greater yellowlegs, long-billed dowitchers, western sandpipers, least sandpipers, American avocets, black-necked stilts, dunlins, white-fronted geese, cinnamon teals, black-crowned night heron, Virginia rails
College Place – western tanagers, Vaux's swifts

Bennington Lake – MacGillivray's warbler, yellow-rumped warblers, Nashville warbler, Townsend's warbler, orange-crowned warbler, yellow warblers

 

MAY 4

Two Rivers HMU – Franklin's gull, Forster's tern, semi-palmated plover, Bullock's orioles

Dodd Road Marsh – Sora

Tyson Ponds – Wilson's phalarope

Mill Creek – yellow warblers, barn swallows, violet-green swallows

Hummingbirds

MerryLynn and I stopped by Tom Lamb's place south of Dixie yesterday.  He has his feeders up and there were many calliope and rufous hummers already there.  Hopefully you can get up to see the hummingbird spectacle at his place this month.  Activity will be at a peak in another week or so, and evenings are the best time to see the most hummingbirds.  Ginger 

Bennington Lake today

It was windy and cold, but we saw and heard some nice spring birds this morning on our walk around the lake.

Highlights were 9 WESTERN KINGBIRDS, 3 HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHERS, 1 LINCOLN'S SPARROW, and 8 CHIPPING SPARROWS. We heard HOUSE WRENS, a YELLOW WARBLER, a WARBLING VIREO and a CASSIN'S VIREO.  There were over 200 swallows hunting insects over the lake – TREE, CLIFF, VIOLET-GREEN, NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED and BANK.  We watched an opportunistic OSPREY try to steal a fish that a fisherman had laying on the ground near him. It's nice to see that some of the birds are returning.  If the weather warms up, there should be more by next Tuesday.  Ginger

Blue Bird Field Trip

Twelve people joined Tom Scribner for a successful trip south of Pomeroy in search of mountain bluebirds.  We saw 37 of them around  some of the many boxes Tom and his father put up over the years.  There is nothing quite as brilliant blue as a male mountain bluebird!  There were also 15 tree swallows in the area utilizing some of the boxes.  Other notable birds seen on the trip were western kingbirds, white-breasted nuthatches, Townsend's solitaires and a family of great horned owls.  The wind was a gale force in places up on top, but the bluebirds didn't mind and we could enjoy watching them from inside our vehicles.  Ginger

Bennington Lake birds

On Tuesday the walkers saw a nice selection of birds including 4 horned grebes, a Wilson's snipe, 2  calliope hummingbirds and a gray catbird (the earliest record for the County).  Since I missed the Tuesday walk, I decided to walk this morning.  There was a chipping sparrow at the south end of the lake and the lake was full of ducks!  2 pair of cinnamon teal, 13 green-winged teals, 7 ring-necked ducks, 10 scaup, 7 shovelers, 36 buffleheads, 13 wigeons, 3 mallards and 7 coots.  Two osprey were busy fishing.  The owl nest has been vandalized, but hopefully the chicks are okay.  The Corp Ranger and Game Warden are investigating.  Ginger

Bennington Lake Today

It was back to winter clothes this morning for our walk around the lake, and we had to wade across Cayuse Falls.  Fortunately the birds didn't seem to mind the cold.  There were over 200 violet-green swallows, about 20 tree swallows and 25 or so cliff swallows catching insects over the water.  The cliff swallows were also gathering mud to make their nests on the concrete structure in the lake.  Two ospreys were successfully fishing, while two coots, several mallards and three ring-necked ducks dotted the lake.  Black-capped chickadees were nest building at the south end of the lake and a red-shafted flicker was excavating a snag.   Two pair of northern harriers hunted the fields, and a Swainson's hawk soared overhead only to be dive-bombed by an American kestrel. The trees and shrubs near the parking lot were full of chickadees, Bewick's wrens, downy woodpeckers, song sparrows. white-crowned sparrows, juncos and yellow-rumped warblers. Next week should be even busier, especially if the weather warms up.

 

Evening Field Trip to Bennington Lake

It was a very windy evening, but that didn't keep over 20 people from joining Mike Denny for a walk around the lake.  At the parking lot we watched hundreds of swallows flying over the water, an osprey fishing, and baby great horned owls in their hole.  We didn't hear any owls on the walk, but Mike explained owl behavior and habitat to the group and also familiarized us with some of the plants along the trail.  Walking carefully along the somewhat muddy trail, flashlights were on at the end making an interesting sight. 

Spring arrivals at Bennington Lake

There were five tree swallows at Bennington Lake this morning, all by the two boxes on the south end of the lake.  There was also a nicely colored yellow-rumped warbler in the same vicinity.  Otherwise, it was a pretty quiet day at the lake for bird migration.  There were many adults and children fishing along the bank, enjoying the spring weather. The happy sounds of spring were everywhere, both from children and the birds!  Many of the deciduous shrubs are turning green and a few are blooming.  Next week should be much brighter as the various green colors start to appear on the trees.  Ginger

Hollebeke HMU Field Trip with Mike and MerryLynn Denny

Today was another successful Blue Mountain Audubon field trip.  Twenty-six people joined Mike and MerryLynn on a hike through one of the lesser known habitat units along the Snake River in Walla Walla County.  On the way, we drove through the Skyrocket Hills north of Prescott birding along the route.  We came back through the orchards to Fishhook Park.  Highlights of the trip included Say's phoebes, northern saw-whet owls, a Harris's sparrow, purple finches, rough-legged hawks and hermit thrushes. 

Swallows

Violet green swallows have been seen along Mill Creek near K-Mart.  Here comes spring!

Water at Bennington Lake!

The lake is being filled and so the canal was roaring and we had to wade through about 4 inches of water to get across.  Okay, spring really is coming now!  We split up during our walk, but several nice species were seen including 45 TUNDRA SWANS, a MEADOWLARK, a FOX SPARROW, a SAY'S PHOEBE, a WESTERN BLUEBIRD and a VARIED THRUSH.  JUNCOS and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS are still around and the SONG SPARROWS and BEWICK'S WRENS were singing - so it was a mix of winter and spring birds today.  Ginger

Western Bluebirds at Bennington Lake

We watched seven WESTERN BLUEBIRDS in the trees on the east side of the trail this morning.  Although bluebirds are a sign of spring, it sure didn't feel like spring on our walk.  The BEWICK'S WRENS also think it's spring – they were singing away like it was 50 degrees and sunny (which is was not).  A few CANADA GEESE, a MALLARD and a lone COOT were on the water and four noisy KILLDEER flew around the shoreline.  GREAT HORNED OWLS are nesting in the parking lot and on the far east side.  All the usual winter birds are still around, but not in the numbers we have seen before.  Spring is sure to come sooner or later, and in the meantime we'll continue to enjoy whatever birds we can find on our weekly walk.  Ginger

Field Trip to McNary Wildlife Natural Area

Paul and Judy Treman led nine of us on a great field trip today. Despite a cold wind, we saw many nice birds including bald eagles, black-crowned night herons, wood ducks, a horned grebe and an assortment of other ducks at the wildlife area.  We stopped at the Walla Walla Grain Terminal on the way home.  There were thousands of ducks there, but windy conditions made it difficult to spend much time looking at them.  However, we were able to get looks at canvasbacks, redheads, scaup, western grebes and of course coots. We saw a total of 41 species.  Ginger

 

 

 

Four Swans and a Singing Northern Shrike

When we first drove up to the parking lot at Bennington Lake this morning, there were four TUNDRA SWANS on the water along with 11 COMMON MERGANSERS and 5 MALLARDS.  On the south end of the lake we were serenaded by the sweet song of a NORTHERN SHRIKE.  Who knew that this bird that has been nicknamed the "butcher bird" because of it's tendency to impale its dinner on a barbed wire fence, would have such a beautiful song!  We also saw five NORTHERN HARRIERS swooping over a wheat field on the east side and ended the day watching a LONG EARED OWL along the trail.  BEWICK'S WRENS and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS were singing, and a pair of AMERICAN KESTRELS posed for us from the top of a tree.  It was breezy, but the sun came out to help us warm up and enjoy the walk.   Ginger

Mill Creek/Rooks Park Field Trip

Nine of us walked up Mill Creek from the Project Office to Rooks Park, to see what birds might be out on this cold, foggy morning.  We weren't disappointed.  There were hooded mergansers and common mergansers on the creek along with canada geese, mallards and American wigeons.  A great blue heron gave us regal poses from his perch on a rock in the middle of the creek, and we even saw a mink catch a fish!

We saw three brown creepers, a varied thrush, ruby-crowned kinglets, a spotted towhee, a belted kingfisher, black-capped chickadees and the usual song sparrows, juncos, white-crowned sparrows and Bewick's wrens.  We saw 25 species on our walk, and added a few more species in route. Ginger

Bennington Lake Today

It was very cold,but sunny – a beautiful morning for a walk around the lake.  Birds were pretty scarce when we first started our walk, but as the sun warmed the air a little, the birds began to appear.  A special treat today was seeing a barn owl.  It flushed as we walked by it and was immediately chased off by a Cooper's hawk.  Other raptors seen were red-tailed hawks, northern harriers and American kestrels. We also saw 2 great horned owls, 3 Townsend's solitaires and 2 northern shrikes.  One of the shrikes was having a "beak to beak" confrontation with a robin in the top of a tree over the trail.  Happy little black-capped chickadees flitted in and out of the trees while Bewick's wrens buzzed at us from the shrubs. There were many dark-eyed juncos and white-crowned sparrows as well as a few song sparrows, ruby-crowned kinglets, house finches and goldfinches. Northern flickers and downy woodpeckers were busy working the trees and robins were scattered throughout the area.  Ten canada geese flew over, but flew off again when they discovered the lake was frozen.  MerryLynn watched about 50 Bohemian waxwings fly over her car as she left the parking lot. Twenty-two deer and a singing coyote put the topping on a another great morning at the lake.  Ginger