Bennington Lake Field Trip

Fifteen of us enjoyed a leisurely walk around the lake – taking in the beautiful fall colors and enjoying the birds.  We were very excited to find four snow geese on the lake.  They didn't stay long, but flew off over our heads.  The other great bird was a northern shrike – the first of the season at the lake.  Because Paul Treman carries his scope with him, everyone got nice looks at both species and several other species.  At the Audubon meeting on Thursday night, Tom promised that we would see at least 20 species.  The pressure was on, but in the end we saw 23 species and heard another two.  Returning to the parking lot, the trail was covered with leaves and the wind picked up, blowing leaves through the air. Several commented on the beauty and tranquility of a fall day, and agreed that Bennington Lake is one of the nicest places to enjoy nature at this special time of year. Ginger

Fog and Boulders at Bennington Lake today

The fog was like pea soup.  We could hear canada geese on the water, but we couldn't see them.  Finally, we found 75 of them along the south shore.  The little birds were very quiet in the fog, so we struggled to find them.  Then, we arrived at "Cayuse Falls" to find huge trucks dumping big boulders into the canal.  A nice man from the Corp of Engineers told us they are shoring up the canal there to make sure it doesn't erode.  The good news is that the work should be done before our Field Trip on Saturday.  Instead of retracing our tracks we took the high trail back to the parking lot and saw lots of sparrows and finches in the sunflower patch.  We also saw an immature sharp-shinned hawk that appeared to be posing for us in the top of a dead tree.  Doubtless, it was looking for its next meal, but we enjoyed the good view.  When we got back to the lake we could see the geese again and four western grebes.  There didn't appear to be any other waterfowl on the water.  Just another morning walk at Bennington Lake....you never know what you'll find. Ginger

Thrushes at Bennington Lake

We were rained out on Tuesday (although we did go up there and saw an osprey while we were sitting in our cars).  Today was much better.  The highlight was seeing two hermit thrushes and five varied thrushes along with about 20 robins. There were numerous waterfowl – shovelers, wigeons, mallards, gadwall, western grebes, green-winged teal and even a ruddy duck. The canal was filled with noisy white-crowned sparrows, song sparrows and American goldfinches.  Flickers were everywhere and downy woodpeckers popped up all along the trail.  Nice to see the birds out after the rain.  We heard a coyote singing, and then saw it running across the wheat fields.  Ginger

Bennington Lake - waterfowl and migrants

Our walk started out a little drippy with very few birds, but the rain quit and we ended up seeing a nice variety of birds.  Waterfowl included western grebes, ruddy ducks, mallards, American wigeons, northern shovelers and a lone pied-billed grebe.  A single Forster's tern hunted the lake, dipping and swirling over the water.  White-crowned sparrows were plentiful as they have been for a couple weeks, and they were joined by a golden-crowned sparrow.  We had a quick glimpse at three evening grosbeaks, but a Lincoln's sparrow sat on top of a shrub, giving us good looks.  There were two red-naped sapsuckers today, an orange-crowned warbler and a common yellowthroat.  Finally, at the parking lot we saw two Cassin's vireos.  We ended up with 35 species today – not bad considering the less than ideal weather.  Ginger

Field Trip Highlights

Mike and MerryLynn took 17 of us to the west side of Walla Walla County today to look for migrants.  Wind and high water kept the shorebird sightings down, but we still saw some nice birds.  The best bird of the day was a black-throated gray warbler, closely followed by a hybrid red-breasted/red-naped sapsucker.  Both were at Hood Park.  Other warblers seen during the day were MacGillivrary's, Nashville, Wilson's, orange-crowned and yellow-rumped.  On the water, other than the usual ducks and geese, was a red-necked grebe and a common loon.  It was a great trip with a total of 74 species seen.  Thanks, Mike and MerryLynn for another great outing. Ginger

Bennington Lake Today

There were two Cassin's vireos at Bennington Lake this morning on our walk.  Other migrants included a Wilson's warbler, an orange-crowned warbler, a warbling vireo, two Lincoln's sparrows and three yellow-rumped warblers.  Two osprey circled the lake and a belted kingfisher patrolled the shoreline.  There were canada geese, mallards, green-winged teal, northern pintails, ring-billed gulls and a pied-billed grebe on the water.  Downy woodpeckers, black-capped chickadees and Bewick's wrens were plentiful, and a spotted towhee popped up along the trail. Now that the sunflower seeds are ripe, house finches and goldfinches were abundant.  White-crowned sparrow numbers were up (25). The total number of species seen is dropping (36 today) with the change in the season. The change in the season can also be seen in the trees and shrubs.  They are dry and stressed now, but soon the rains will come, their leaves will fall, and winter will arrive – bringing a new season of birds to the lake.  Ginger

Great Egrets at Bennington Lake

We saw 9 great egrets along the canal this morning as we were returning to the parking lot.  What a beautiful sight!  Four great blue herons were with them.  Other interesting birds included a semi-palmated plover, 2 Lincoln's sparrows, a vesper sparrow, a Brewer's sparrow, a Hammond's flycatcher, one osprey and 2 great horned owls.  Most of the summer migrants are gone – we only heard a few house wrens, one gray catbird, and a few western wood peewees.  However, we did have a nice assortment of sparrows.  In addition to the ones already mentioned, there were 9 white-crowned sparrows and 30 chipping sparrows.  MerryLynn saw the first fall junco on the trail below the parking lot.  Goldfinches and house finches were abundant and there were still some swallows and swifts over the lake.  We saw or heard 42 species this morning – not bad for a hot, dry morning walk.  Ginger