Spring Migrants Field Trip

It was sunny and warm day – a perfect day for a field trip.  We found Swainson's hawks in many locations, ospreys on McDonald Road and Highway 12, black-necked stilts on Frog Hollow Road and at Tyson Ponds, American avocets, over a hundred Caspian terns and a glaucous gull at the Delta, barn swallows and a western kingbird on the Lowden/Gardena Road, an Eurasian wigeon and a great egret at Tyson Ponds, great horned owls and chicks in several locations, barn owls on Dodd Road, swarms of cliff swallows on Byrnes Road, a large flock of bank swallows on Frog Hollow, northern rough-winged swallows in several places....the list goes on.  Thanks to all of you for a fun day.  Ginger

The American Avocets have returned

On April 9, there were two American avocets at the Wallula Junction overlook and another three at the Walla Walla River Delta.  Today their numbers had increased to eight.  There also was a pair of cinnamon teal on Casey pond today.  On April 9, there were 14 black-necked stilts at Bennington Lake, but they only stuck around that day.  Returning swallows now include northern rough-winged, tree, cliff and violet-green.  The osprey have begun rebuilding their nest along Highway 12 near Lowden, and there was a pair checking out the two platforms on McDonald Road.  It won't be long before hummingbirds return, so it's time to put up the feeders.   Ginger

Bennington Lake Osprey

There were two ospreys at the lake this morning.  We watched one successfully catch a fish on three different occasions.  How fun to watch it dive straight down from high above, go completely underwater, and come back up with a fish it its talons.  I think it was more successful than the many fishermen lining the shoreline.  The lake is once again full – so full that there were rapids along the canal and the water at the "Cayuse Falls" crossing was ankle high.  There were three varieties of swallows today – tree, violet green and cliff.  Two Townsend's solitaires were still hanging around, but they won't be around much longer.  Black-capped chickadees were nest building and Bewick's wrens were loudly defending territory.  Waterfowl today included northern shoveler, mallard, green-winged teal, American wigeon and canada goose.  A greater yellowlegs made a brief appearance when I first arrived at the parking lot.  Near the parking lot was a yellow-rumped warbler in full breeding plumage.  I can hardly wait for all the warblers to arrive! Ginger

Ospreys at Bennington Lake

They are back!  There was one osprey circling the lake calling, and one sitting on a snag looking very haggard from the long trip.  There still isn't much water in the lake, but there were ducks galore today – 88 American wigeons, 7 mallards, 8 canada geese, 1 gadwall, 1 bufflehead, 1 redhead, 10 green-winged teal and 9 northern shovelers.  There were also shorebirds – 2 greater yellowlegs, 1 dunlin and 5 killdeer.  A pair of tree swallows was sitting on one of the nest boxes and there were lots of violet-green swallows.  One actually posed for us.  A Townsend's solitaire was flycatching by the bench on the east side of the lake and an adult bald eagle flew over.  The northern harrier pair put on aerial displays and were joined by a young male northern harrier and a red-tailed hawk at one point.  The elusive great horned owls were just that – not to be found today.  We saw 33 species today.  Hopefully this is the beginning of spring migration.  Ginger

Bennington Lake Swallows

Five of us put on our rain coats and walked around Bennington Lake this morning.  It didn't rain the entire time, but we were all glad we had worn protective gear.  The first bird we saw when we got to the parking lot was a Caspian Tern.  Then we started seeing swallows over the lake.  We counted 27 violet green swallows and 2 tree swallows.  There is still very little water in the lake, but we did see two double-crested cormorants, five mallards and one fly-over canada goose.  A pair of northern harriers were displaying and a great horned owl was calling as we walked down the canal.  We saw two adult owls and heard a young one crying, but didn't find the nest.  We saw 24 species total. 

March Audubon Field Trip

Mike and MerryLynn Denny led the March Field Trip to the west side of the county on March 17 in search of early migrants and wildflowers. The wind was howling but that didn't stop the group from walking around Hood Park where we found many yellow-rumped warblers, an orange-crowned warbler and a pair of black-capped chickadees setting up house in a nest box along the water.  We saw a glaucous gull on the Walla Walla River Delta and set up scopes at Wallula Grain Terminal to get a lesson in how to tell the difference between lesser and greater scaup. The highlight was hiking the rocks in Wallula Gap where we found desert buttercups, shooting stars and prairie stars, lichen and several other plants emerging from winter's cold.  Robins were everywhere, there were around 200 snow-geese and several hundred white-fronted geese on McNary NWR, and three great horned owls on nests.  All in all, it was a great trip.

 

Northern harrier behavior

At Bennington Lake this morning there were a pair of northern harriers.  The male put on quite a show with it displays – going straight up and then swooping down on the female.  But that wasn't enough for this feisty bird.  It also harassed a great horned owl and actually chased it from the far west side of the high trail to the high trail on the east side.  Very interesting behavior and fun to watch.  Spring is definitely in the air!   Ginger