May 15th - North Douglas County

I woke up to the sounds of Eurasian Collared-Doves. The raspy mewling surprised me - I thought I would get out the door a little earlier, but 6 AM still wasn't all that bad. I'd spent the night at the Willows Inn in Wilbur, technically two counties away from my intended starting point for the day, but only a 30 minute drive. 

Crown Point Vista

Crown Point Vista - above Grand Coulee Dam

Another addition to my "entering Douglas County collection

The close confluence of five counties always made Grand Coulee an interesting stop for me. The dam itself is mostly (I believe) in Grant County, although this was a short drive for me from Wilbur in Lincoln County. I passed signs inviting me to the Keller Ferry, which (no connection) takes one to Ferry County on the other side of the Columbia. Okanogan County is accessed right across the river from Grand Coulee itself, and my stop was in Douglas County at Crown Point Vista State Park.

There wasn't much to the park - I was mainly here because of some sightings of Vaux's Swift from this park across a few years. I didn't find any that morning, but there were plenty of Rock Wrens buzzing in the area, as well as singing Lark Sparrows and Violet-green Swallows. It was a neat stop, and I recalled stopping here many many years ago with our late son when he was just barely walking - he looked absolutely tiny next to the huge river, the huge dam, and the imposing cliff walls. Any of us might, I suppose. 

Grand Coulee Dam from Crown Point Vista - Okanogan County at left, Grant at top

The Rex Places

Someone's got to answer this for me. There's a Pendall Road up in this corner of Douglas, but it's not Pendall Road, it's "Pendall Rex Road". Barry Rex Road. Douglas County has never worked too hard to name roads (N and H are nice. R is a road I need to explore for sure), so the weird new pattern is confusing to say the least. 

More of the same. Rex... who are you?

I quickly let it go though... or at least I plan to quickly let this go... as soon as I understand it.

That aside, I wanted to explain why this corner was kind of interesting to me. Turkeys. That's all. Code 4 birds that had been reported on numerous occasions up here. I had started the year with firm belief that I would come up here and I would find them. 

To be fair, Matt and I found Wild Turkeys back in February near Bridgeport, but they still haven't popped up on eBird. We put them in, and I uploaded audio of them vocalizing in what seemed like good habitat, but no response, inquiry, or help in understanding their uncountability had come our way. To be fair, the folks who volunteer their time to keep that awesome data awesomely clean... they have actual lives and can't have me bending their ear every time I put up an odd sighting, but I was still kind of hoping to get the "I have a question about your sighting" email at some point just to have a chance to better understand where these birds are wild and where they're not, etc etc etc. 

But just like the Rex Roads, I can let that go.

I actually had a good-sized list of other birds I was hoping to find out here. With ponds dotting the grass and sage, I was still hoping for a Blue-winged Teal, or maybe some American Avocets. The riparian corridors might get me some of the warblers I was missing (Orange-crowned and Nashville) maybe?

Pendall Rex Road

There was no shortage of Western Meadowlarks and Lark Sparrows. And then of all things... a stinking Gray Partridge (bird 163 for the year) went dashing across the road. I'd been looking for those suckers all winter, and had kind of given up on them until next winter. Not at all expected, but I'll take it! 

Riparian corridors had Brown-headed Cowbirds, Bullock's Orioles, and Yellow Warblers. The ponds mostly just had the usual suspects (coots, Redheads, Northern Shovelers), although I did find a pond that had a pair of Eared Grebes (164) in breeding plumage. 

The road was lined with signs indicating that this was a wildlife area - it's a newly minted one called the Big Bend Wildlife Area. What I didn't realize at the time was that it has largely been put in place to protect Sharp-tailed Grouse - a species I still (spoiler alert) have never seen at the time of this writing!

Dusky Grouse and Greater Sage-Grouse are also possibilities out here, so there will be a return trip for those for sure.

Bullock's Oriole

I was amazed at how much I just had the road to myself. It was a beautiful Saturday, and I actually ended up picking up a lot of birds over the course of three hours - 58 species! I eventually made my way to China Creek Road, which works its way down close to the Columbia.

Lots of grazing in the open country here

End of the Road - China Creek Road

What a neat little spot! The end of the road actually had a car or two present that had beaten me to the punch that morning. Down below me across the field, I could see people fishing in the Columbia. And even more fun - I heard the Wild Turkeys I'd been hoping to find here. The picture here helps clarify why I didn't just walk over to them for a closer look! But it was still nice to find some in a more expected area. 

The long walk through here didn't add any new year birds, although some Yellow Warblers kept me on my toes with some interesting songs. After a hike of a couple miles around the habitat, I hopped back in the car to continue West across the northern part of the county.

Highway 174 ponds

There are actually a startling number of ponds out along Highway 174 and the side roads that spring from it. I stopped so many times, hoping to find the Blue-winged Teals and American Avocets I'd been hoping for. Then finally at a pond near McCabe Road: Boom. American Avocets. Except they turned out to be Black-necked Stilts. Still a fun bird! I stayed and scanned the pond, and was finally able to add a single shorebird species: Wilson's Phalarope (165), with two of them circling madly on the far end of the pond. A Grasshopper Sparrow (166) sang from the grasses as well. 

Turkey Vulture caught on red light camera

Coyote

So, a pair of new birds in the Big Bend area, and a pair along eastern 174. Great start! I was on to find the next pair: 

Working across the Northern slice of Douglas

The wet ponds and flooded fields of East Foster Creek have been pretty productive this year, giving me American Pipit (which I saw again this day), Cinnamon Teal (nope), and Wilson's Snipe (nope). It was pretty dry for most of it until I finally got to where the water was backed up. From the roadside I was able to hear Common Yellowthroat (167), and with a quick call for them, a pair of Virginia Rails (168). These were both birds I expected to be a little tough, and I'd been teased several times by Yellow-headed Blackbirds, which I found can make some sounds similar to a grunt call from a rail. 

Right around here...my check engine light went on. Oh dear. 

I had been considering camping a night in the county, but decided it would be best to wrap things up. I popped over to Brewster on the other side of the river, and sat for some Carne Asada at Mi Pueblo while I considered my options. I ended up getting advice to hit NAPA, which handles those lights for free. It's been long enough since my last check engine light - it was nice to be reminded of this option. Long story short (when do I ever do that?) - checked, light turned off, safe to go home with it. Phew.

Central Ferry Canyon Road

Here I came across an expected unexpected bird. Many of them, actually, in the form of a Bank Swallow (169) colony. 

Personality test - which Bank Swallow represents you?

Another stop at Packwood Cemetery, which held many of the same birds as the last visit, but now with the addition of House Wren and Cassin's Finch. I thought of where I was, and how far I had to go. . . and thought, "why don't I take Central Ferry South from here, so I'm not stopping so much for new birds - just get movin down the road, yeah?" Then right at the top of the road - Lewis' Woodpecker. (170). 

Do you want to see a really poor picture of a Lewis' Woodpecker? Well, too bad, folks, and apologies, but: 

Lewis's Woodpecker

They're such pretty birds - I snapped a picture quickly, and got something else besides the woodpecker in focus. But to be clear, it's right at the top of Central Ferry Canyon Road, where it all breaks from the trees that I had this bird. 

Then I drove through the farmlands of Dyer Hill:

Lupine and clouds

Not much to see except beauty- I did take Titchenal Canyon Road up through Badger Mountain, which met up with Indian Camp Road, to Badger Road, which took me back down towards East Wenatchee.

My destination once I hit East Wenatchee was Union Hill Cider Company. I wanted to stop for a cider, and had to pick up a piece of wood. The owners, who I had last seen in January? February? Gave me a "Welcome back!" and we quickly got caught up on my trip - then asked about the wood. 

I had met with their son and mentioned how I wanted a piece of applewood for a mug holder, for all of the county mugs I pick up. The owner was happy to oblige, and we went out to his place, where he had a giant container full of cuttings from a bit of orchard that had been cleared. I got what I needed, returned to the store, sat, sipped, and chatted with the folks at the next table. 

Turns out they run a podcast called "Explore Washington". Needless to say we had plenty to talk about! We closed the place out, and I made the trek back over the mountains, already excited for my June trip. 

May 14th - Field Trip!

Bright and Early

Badger Mountain

I was up fairly early in East Wenatchee, packing up my things at the Cedars Inn to get out the door and over to Wenatchee for a 6 AM field trip. This morning, I went to collect the usual fare: a breakfast bag and the microwavable Jimmy Dean sandwich... "Or we can make you waffles." The clerk and I shared a moment of excitement here, as this was the sign - the one that proclaimed "Restaurant Operations are Returning to Normal." 

Who would have known we'd get to a place where I could attach that kind of importance to the simple act of dropping a couple frozen blueberry Eggo waffles into a toaster with a gloved hand? 

But I'll stand by it. It was a Significant Waffle.

I had a little time, so I popped over to Porter's Pond on the Columbia and picked up a Spotted Sandpiper (142 for the year list). 

The group met at a park and ride over in Wenatchee, with everyone trickling in by 6:15. It's always nice to meet new birders, and folks came from all parts of the state, and with all skill levels. Worth noting as well that a pleasantry called "the handshake" was present that morning, letting all know that the reports of its death were greatly exaggerated. We discussed vaccination progress within the group, and actually did some parking and riding from the park and ride. 

Our destination was Badger Mountain. It's hard to overstate how unique this habitat is in Douglas County. There's nowhere near this many trees in any other part of the county, or elevation. Add to this the location - on the West end of the county, where it's not too too far from the Wenatchee Mountains and other little ranges that trail down from the Cascades - giving some connectivity for some species that you just don't find in the basin.

Add some riparian corridors and extensive sage-steppe habitat, as well as native grasslands on the North side of the mountain, and you can see how productive a day could be on Badger.

Indian Camp Road

We began the trip on Indian Camp Road, specifically a sage-steppe area where we were hoping to find some of the typical sparrows, as well as Gray Flycatcher. We were not disappointed on any of these counts, picking up Brewer's Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, and Gray Flycatcher (143) all pretty quickly. Mourning Doves were calling as well - not always easy to find in the county with the invasion of Eurasian Collared-Doves!

In addition to being a new bird for the year, I have to say it was interesting for me to make a connection between Gray Flycatchers and sage. The first place I think of when I think of this bird (which I have heard and seen precious few times) is Satus Pass down in Klickitat County, which is just a little more treed. But the sage seemed to suit these guys just fine, and there were several calling and seen from our first stop.

Mark was pretty quick to get the scope on birds of interest as we went along, so there were opportunities to see the birds AND hear them at the same time, which is absolutely one of the best ways to get a song stuck in your head, so to speak. Western Meadowlarks filled most of the backing track for the morning music, and we even heard, but did not see, a few Vesper Sparrows, and a song that was suspected to be a Sagebrush Sparrow, but not well-confirmed. 

Indian Camp Road

Mountain Bluebird at nest

We hopped into cars and drove down the road a bit to a riparian area. This is where the year list really started to take off. We had Calliope Hummingbird (144) fairly early, and other birds (Yellow Warbler and Black-headed Grosbeak) called from down the road. I totally missed an Orange-crowned Warbler that several folks in the group saw. Bummer!

American Goldfinch, Lazuli Bunting (145), Western Wood-Pewee (146), Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Western Tanager (147), and numerous Cassin's Finches gave us good looks and listens as we walked. We even got to watch a Mountain Bluebird pair tending to a nest.

We added more birds as we walked: Wilson's Warbler (148), House Wren (149), Warbling Vireo (150), and Dusky Flycatcher (151). As we got to the far end of the walk, we got to enjoy the zany calls of a Yellow-breasted Chat (152). I was asking Richard about various Douglas County birds as we walked, and Ruffed Grouse came up. "We had one here yesterday when we were scouting," he told me casually.

And then we heard/felt/experienced it. Thump... thump.... thump..thump..thump. thump.thump.thumpthumpthumupthumpthump. (153)

Two-tailed Swallowtail

And here's where I have to go on a little rant about communication. :) Ruffed Grouse hardly has any eBird pins (eBird), it's listed as a code 4 bird in the county (Washington Birder), but Richard told me it's easy enough to find in the right habitat in the county (man on the street). Other birds we discussed during the day were considered rare, but pinned quite a bit on eBird. I hope I can get some of these sorted out! I try to get my information from a few different sources, and work from there.

It is at any rate very possible that there are Ruffed Grouse populations in Douglas County that are getting missed by the folks that use eBird - take note!

Douglas Squirrel in Douglas County. . . imagine that

Dusky Flycatcher?

Here's a fun picture. I believe this was a Dusky, but I can't say for sure. What I can say for sure is that "Dusky Flycatcher in flight" and "Dusky Flycatcher underwing" gave me no images with this kind of view! So I'm just including it for people to chew on, especially if they are savvy with field marks. We heard and viewed several Duskies, but was this one? How could one tell?

Black-headed Grosbeak

Ruud Canyon

We turned things back around after the Ruffed Grouse (this was right where Rock Island Creek crosses Indian Camp Road) and made our way back to Badger Mountain Road. Up the hill a little bit, and then we turned East again down Ruud Canyon Road. 

Hillside above Ruud Canyon Road

Here we got a lot of Ponderosa Pine habitat. New warblers here included MacGillivray's (154), and Townsend's (155). Both ended up being seen-only for me, with the Townsend's songs coming from high in the canopy, and the MacGillivray's popping up long enough for the swift-of-eye, but not for this guy. We also had Wilson's Warblers. These I was actually able to glimpse. Fun to find that there was actually one in this picture:

Where's Waldo? Wilson's Warbler edition. Good luck!

Other new birds here included Chipping Sparrows (156) and a calling Townsend's Solitaire (157). Finches included Red Crossbill, a surprising House Finch, and Cassin's Finches trying to sound like Cassin's Vireos with their call notes. We made a few more stops along the road before descending down onto the plateau.

A Common Blue butterfly, I think. We also saw Orange-tip Butterflies

We hit the native grasslands in hopes of some Grasshopper Sparrows, but came up empty there. Western Meadowlark, Vesper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, and Ring-necked Pheasant were all present. 

Redfield Road

Hairy Clematis

How fun to come back to Redfield Road! Back in March, I had a great morning of owling and finching here. Now I was back for spring - snow gone from the ground and flowers in bloom. We walked it up to the overlook above the ski area and enjoyed a leisurely lunch. No new birds along that stretch for the year for me, although we had fun watching a Sharp-shinned Hawk high above the mountain, and listening to cows nearby! Mountain Chickadee, Cassin's Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Chipping Sparrow were the common species here, as well as some passing Pine Siskins.

Some kind of longhorn beetle on Balsamroot

Some kind of... stinkbug? I found nothing that was a good image match - have fun, Bug People!

Waterville and the plateau from Badger Mountain overlook

Temperance

Oh goodness the Waterville STP is a temptation. Its gates are open, but the signs are clear. I don't know things changed here, but it used to be (or used to be thought to be?) open for folks to drive on in and look at the birds. I've had some nice birds there in the past, and had all kinds of imaginings of what birds could have been in there (Blue-winged Teal and American Bittern, based on a report from the exact same day - maybe the sings aren't clear enough?), but I simply scoped from the road and let it go. 

I stopped in Waterville to get out of the sun for a little bit. The Coyote Pass Cafe was open, and had Wifi. An adult beverage sounded nice but they served none there. "But you could grab a little airplane bottle of Vodka from the corner store and sneak it into your drink if you wanted," a person seated in the cafe pointed out - the waitress nodded in agreement. But again, letting this go was an easy enough thing, so I ordered a lemonade and the grilled chicken salad. 

Then the greatest temptation of all presented itself: 

Possibly the best mug in the universe (left)

"How much?" I asked the waitress, pointing at the mug. She smiled and walked it back to the owner, who was busy cooking in the kitchen. I didn't hear the conversation, but could see it taking place, and kind of knew the truth of the first sentence before the waitress spoke it, 

"She says she doesn't really want to part with it... but if you want it for five or ten dollars, that's fine."

And again, just doing without seemed like the right way to go here. I was happy enough just to snap the picture and toss it in here. I was able to pick up a mug, at any rate, for 50-some-odd-cents at the thrift store across the street as I went to grab my laptop. The Douglas County Courthouse - not a bad pickup either.

I came back to cold lemonade and a salad - taking a little time to check email and eBird. I decided my best bet was to hit Moses Coulee and Jameson Lake first, and then to make my way up to some nice shorebird spots on the East side of the plateau. 

Jameson Lake Road

I had two primary targets on the road up to Jameson Lake. The first was found pretty quickly - White-throated Swifts (158) swarming over one of the basalt cliffs. I pulled over at one point near a bit of scrabbly scree, rolled the windows down and took a ten minute nap, waking up to the other: Rock Wren (159). 

I continued up to Jameson Lake, parked at the South end of the lake, and walked it from there. 

Jameson Lake

I got the funniest sounds here at the lake - Redhead ducks were meowing, and Yellow-headed Blackbirds (everywhere) were chainsawing away. Cormorants were on the lake in good numbers, and I also found one Caspian Tern (160) patrolling back and forth over the lake. 

Yellow-headed Blackbird

I was happy to find that Jak's Resort, which had burned down in the Labor Day fires, is working to come back. The building, of course, is gone, but the owner picked up a grant and is trying to get things back to the way they were. You can still pick up food and beverages there, as well as rent boats and campsites. All very good news, and I hope some of you make the trip out!

Returning to my car from the Snack Shack, I found another new bird for the year, and Eastern Kingbird (161). This one got flagged by eBird, so was likely on the early end of arrivals. 

Caspian Tern

Eastern Kingbird

Eastward!

I had never taken the Jameson Lake East Access Road, so it was an easy choice. No regrets at all, as it took me immediately to some Lark Sparrows (162). From there, I was hoping to find a Loggerhead Shrike as I passed through some sage? Maybe a Blue-winged Teal at some of the ponds in Eastern Douglas? Shorebirds? But none of the above came to pass. 

Lark Sparrow

I briefly considered driving up to the Northeast corner, as I had originally intended, but the lack of anything at Atkins Lake, Heritage Road, and various other ponds in the area helped me decide that I was done for the day. I was getting a little weary, and decided to make my way towards the motel in Wilbur where I'd made a reservation. A little outside of Douglas (30 miles or so), but not too too far, and it was a decent rate. 

I again drifted off to sleep early, after taking time to enter observations and plot and plan for the next day in Douglas.