Waterfowl, Gulls and Eagles Field Trip

Thirteen of us joined Mike and MerryLynn for a great day of birding on the west side of the county on January 8.  It was cold and sunny, but there was a stiff wind along the Columbia and Snake Rivers.  Highlights were a FERRUGINOUS HAWK on Byrnes Road, a flock of SNOW GEESE flying high above McNary NWR, a close-up fly by of a TUNDRA SWAN at McNary NWR Headquarters, several BALD EAGLES sitting on the ice along the Columbia River and a bright white ball in the sky at Ice Harbor Dam that we learned later (after Chris Howard did some research on the internet) was VENUS.  We even got to do a little "four wheeling" in the mud at the Wallula Grain Terminal! We saw a total of 24 species of waterfowl and five species of gulls.  Our total species count for the day was 61.  Ginger

2010 WALLA WALLA CHRISTMAS COUNT RESULTS

Canada goose 1848*

Wood duck 8

American wigeon 163

Mallard 455

Northern shoveler 1

Green-winged teal 4

Ring-neck duck 9

Bufflehead 2

Common goldeneye 1

Hooded merganser 19

Common merganser 37

Ring-necked pheasant 171

Wild turkey 679*

California quail 471

Great blue heron 14

Bald eagle cw

Northern harrier 13

Sharp-shinned hawk 19*

Cooper's hawk 20*

Northern goshawk 1

Red-tailed hawk 256*

Rough-legged hawk 4

Golden eagle 1

American kestrel 88*

Merlin 5

Prairie falcon 1

American coot 6

Killdeer 2

Wilson's snipe 1

Rock pigeon 181

Eurasian collared dove 43*

Mourning dove 135

Western screech owl cw

Great horned owl 14

Northern pygmy owl cw

Long-eared owl cw

Belted kingfisher 5

Downy woodpecker 32*

Hairy woodpecker 4

Northern flicker 191

Northern shrike 5

Steller's jay 12

Eastern blue jay 1

Black-billed magpie 308

American crow 353

Common raven 43

Horned lark 162

Black-capped chickadee 89

Red-breasted nuthatch 5

Bewick's wren 22

Pacific wren 5

American dipper 9*

Golden-crowned kinglet 8

Ruby-crowned kinglet 17

Townsend's solitaire 36*

Hermit thrush 8

American robin 498

Varied thrush 125

European starling 4564

Bohemian waxwing 187

Cedar waxwing 429*

Yellow-rumped warbler 7

Spotted towhee 5

Song sparrow 138

Lincoln's sparrow 1

White-crowned sparrow 121

Dark-eyed junco 2079

Red-winged blackbird 133

Western meadowlark 14

Brewer's blackbird 52

Brown-headed cowbird cw

Cassin's finch 1

House finch 440

Common redpoll 2

Pine siskin 230

American goldfinch 315

House sparrow 758

*new record for numbers seen

Winter Wonderland at Bennington Lake

Our walk around the lake this morning was beautiful. Bright sunshine on the snow covered ground made everything glisten, and frost on all of the tiny branches of the shrubs and trees created intricate silvery patterns. Even the grasses were tipped with silver. The fog rolled back in as we were headed back to the parking lot so we were really fortunate to be able to enjoy the winter wonderland.

 

Besides enjoying the snow and the sunshine, we also saw some great birds including a BALD EAGLE, two LONG-EARED OWLS, four GREAT HORNED OWLS, a HAIRY WOODPECKER, 12 DOWNY WOODPECKERS, a NORTHERN SHRIKE and many of the other birds we usually see.  MerryLynn heard a COMMON REDPOLL fly overhead.  It was a good morning to be outdoors.  Ginger

 

Osprey on Mill Creek

There has been an osprey on Mill Creek near Rooks Park for several weeks.  It was last seen today, December 12.  This is the latest date recorded of an osprey in Walla Walla County.  It often sits in the trees overlooking the creek on the south side near the walking bridge that goes to Rooks Park.  There is also a dipper in the same vicinity and both common and hooded mergansers on the creek.  We went out today and got some great photos.  It's so nice to see one of our summer birds hanging around!  Ginger

Bennington Lake After the Snow

We finally got out to walk Bennington Lake this morning after missing last week because of the weather.  Our first encounter was a NORTHERN SHRIKE chasing a YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER in the cottonwoods on the south side of the lake.  There was another shrike on the northeast side.  We watched a HAIRY WOODPECKER busily working a cottonwood tree on the east side and there were several DOWNY WOODPECKERS in the same general area.  JUNCOS and ROBINS were abundant all around the lake.  There was one GREAT HORNED OWL in the trees on the east side, and several TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES scattered around the lake.  The water was frozen so we saw no waterfowl, killdeer or herons.  Early in the walk, the sun tried to come through the clouds, but the fog drifted in and we could barely see the far side of the lake when we returned to our cars.  It was nice to be out walking after several days of snow and ice.  Ginger

Tom's Turkey Trot Field Trip

 

November 20 was the Turkey Trot led by our President, Tom Scribner.  We always have a great time on this trip and this year was no exception as 17 enthusiastic birders spent the day searching for wild turkeys.  We found lots of them - in Walla Walla and Columbia counties.  Our total count was 291!  Other highlights included 10 great horned owls, a barn owl, a northern shrike, 5 varied thrushes, several huge covey of quail,  and over fifty  red-tailed hawks.  Watching the full moon come up over the wheat fields north of town was a perfect ending to a great day.  Ginger

 

Bennington Lake today

The birds were happy to see the sun this morning.  The robins, white-crowned sparrows and Townsend's solitaires were all singing.  Juncos, song sparrows, and flickers were numerous and visible.  There was a beautiful young red-tailed hawk that had a dark belly-band very dark brown and white coloring.  Twelve canada geese flew in and landed on the lake (the only waterfowl on the water).  30 killdeer, 4 long-billed dowitchers and a great blue heron were working the mud.  There was a great horned owl at the north end of the lake and a downy woodpecker so busy pecking at a gall on a rose bush that it allowed us to walk right by and get a very close up look.  On her way out of the parking lot, MerryLynn found an adult chipping sparrow (very late for them to be here).  Carolyn saw a great egret on her bicycle ride up to the lake along Mill Creek. Another great morning of birding.  Ginger

 

On another note, there are at least two eastern blue jays in Walla Walla in the area south of Bryant Street between Sturm and Durant Streets.