Swainson's Hawks and More

The Swainson's hawks are gathering in the fields south of Walla Walla getting ready for their long trek south.  Look for them on Frog Hollow, Stateline and all the connecting roads out there.  They are soaring, sitting on poles, and on the ground.  It's a great opportunity to see the differences in immature and adult birds, also dark and light morphs. 

 

Other birds of note this weekend seen around Walla Walla:

 

Hundreds of Vaux's swifts at twilight coming into the chimney on 8th Street in College Place

Many, many yellow rumped warblers all over town and out in the countryside – especially in the Russian olives.

Savannah sparrow flocks on Stateline and Frog Hollow

White-fronted geese at Mile Post 300 along Highway 12 between Wallula and Hood Park

 

Time to get out and see migration!

 

Yellow-rumped warblers

On our walk this morning we watched yellow-rumped warbler migration in full swing.  We counted 27 of them, and I'm sure we missed several.  How fun to watch them darting here and there!  There were still lots of barn swallows over the water and 3 dunlin on the mud.  Three dark-eyed juncos were hopping around on the grass when we returned to our cars (winter birds coming back!)  The wind kept a lot of the birds down so our numbers weren't as high as they are some weeks.  Most of the summer birds have left though so species numbers were also lower (24 species today). 

A Birdy Bennington Lake

Tuesday walkers found lots of birds this morning on our trek around the lake.  And the nice thing was that we actually saw many of the birds!  Wilson's warblers were numerous.  There were also a few yellow warblers and one very striking Townsend's warbler.  Warbling vireos, house wrens and Bewick's wrens were also seen.  The most abundant species of the day was cedar waxwing.  They were everywhere!  There are still a few western wood peewees and lazuli buntings around, and we saw one black-headed grosbeak.  We all got a nice close-up look at a lesser goldfinch.  Swallows were swarming all over the lake.  There were also many Vaux's swifts.  The biggest surprise of the morning was finding a Townsend's solitaire.  It's very early for them to arrive at the lake.  Their normal arrival date is usually a month away.  There was a greater yellowlegs and a western sandpiper in with the usual killdeer and spotted sandpiper in the mud.  Migration is in full swing so get out there and enjoy the birds before they leave for the winter.

Birds Here and There

If you are going to be out looking for birds in this heat, do it EARLY morning.  There are a lot of birds out there and lots of babies, but they hunker down just like we do when the temperatures rise.  Look for birds bathing and drinking in the puddles at Fort Walla Walla.  MerryLynn put a nice photo on our Facebook page of lesser goldfinches and house finches she saw there a few days ago.  

 

Bennington Lake has all the summer birds and their young flitting around.  Even the young great horned owls are seeking out the shade by the canal. 

 

Rooks Park is also very productive.  There is a pair of red-eyed vireos in the tall trees at the west end of the parking lot.  They are easy to hear, but very hard to see because they hide high up in the leaves.  There are also lots of western wood peewees flitting around.  If you search you'll find yellow-breasted chats, song sparrows, Bullock's orioles, gray catbirds, yellow warblers and more.  Young robins have taken over the grassy areas – you can't miss them!  There is a family of spotted sandpipers on Mill Creek at the diversion dam.

 

Don't forget to check our Facebook page to see photos people have sent in.

Happy birding and stay cool!

 

 

Bennington Lake in the Early Morning

Eleven hearty souls decided to see what birds were out and about at 5:30 this morning.  We were greeted by a cacophony of sounds.  Singing birds everywhere! The adult great horned owls were sunning on snags after a successful night of hunting (see our Facebook page for photos). Hundreds of
swallows were skimming over the lake - mostly bank and cliff with a few tree and rough-winged in the mix. Eleven baby wood ducks followed mom across the canal several times. Hummingbirds buzzed the feeders and two babies poked their beaks out of the nest on the east side.  All the summer birds that nest at the lake were busy this morning.  What fun!!! We tallied 47 species on our walk.  

Now that the temperatures are getting into the 90's the best time to see birds is early morning or evening. They seek out the shade during the day just like most of us do.  We will be walking at 6:30 during the hot weather so come join the fun.

Wildflower Field Trip

Fourteen wildflower enthusiasts enjoyed a beautiful day with Priscilla Dauble in the Blue Mountains on Saturday, June 21.  The air was clear, the skies blue and the wildflowers abundant.  At our first stop on Weston Mountain we were treated to mountain lady slippers, coral root, pine drops and phantom orchids.  On Summit Road we found several varieties and colors of penstemons, scarlet gila, several varieties of lupine including Sabin's lupine which is endemic to the Blue Mountains and white Blue Mountain lupine which is rare.  At Target Meadows we found elephant head figwort, camus, hellebore, bistort, white bog orchid and Douglas clover, another rare plant.  Coyote Ridge trail was a lush green with a nice variety of wildflowers and shrubs.  It was like walking into a magical forest!  I'm not sure of the total number of wildflower species we saw at the various stops during the day, but it was between 75 and 100.

 

A special treat was getting to watch a blond yearling bear foraging on Summit Road.  Although this wasn't a birding trip, most of us had our binoculars and saw or heard many of the mountain birds.  The most unusual sighting was watching about 20 American white pelicans at Coyote Ridge.  They were riding the thermals up to cross the mountains – probably going from the Umatilla River area to the LaGrande area.  Not a sight you would expect to see in the mountains.

 

There are some great photos of the day on the Blue Mountain Audubon Facebook page.  Check them out!

 

Foster Road Field Trip

Fifteen people enjoyed a leisurely walk along Foster Road this morning.  Yellow-breasted chats and gray catbirds were very accommodating.  They posed on the top of the shrubs, and serenaded us with their complete repertoire of songs and calls.  Rufous hummingbirds glowed in the sunlight and put on aerial shows.  Yellow warblers and black-headed grosbeaks flitted in and out of the trees and house wrens sang from the thickets.  Identifying willow flycatchers and western wood peewees was easy because of their distinctive calls.  A western flycatcher and warbling vireos were more of a challenge to find – but we finally were able to find them.  A lazuli bunting sat on a tree limb so we all could enjoy it's brilliant blue color.  It was a fun morning of birding. 39 total species were seen.