August 18th: A lazy trip up the Columbia

 

It's August along the Columbia River, and it would feel weird not to mention that there was a lot of fruit to be had. Over the course of the three days, I purchased bags of apricots (the good ones), apples (McIntosh), and these peaches from Lone Pine Fruit and Espresso. I've given away 40 or 50 of them, and still have a sizable peach problem to deal with!

Funny story first: I included details about warblers I saw in some parks in my post on the 17th - pure lies and fabrication. I went right from the Lake Entiat Viewpoint to the Waterville STP, with no warblers whatsoever. That was from this morning. Lake Entiat, Orondo Park, and Lake Daroga State Park were my three stops during the morning. 

Warblers were found along the way, and a single Western Wood-Pewee. Honestly there were not many birds in the Columbia, outside of Mallards, Canada Geese, Ring-billed and California Gulls, and a single Common Goldeneye. That wasn't a  new bird for the yearlist, but was definitely a surprise! They will be swinging back into the county in greater numbers as the months move along, and August just seemed a bit early. 

Columbia River from Daroga State Park

All of these stops felt lazy. There were few birds out, and I kept a pretty easy pace, doing the most walking at Daroga. Daroga has this great layout with a lagoon (geography folks, please correct me) just inside of the Columbia that was teeming with ducks in the winter. I hadn't been here properly since walking the snowy paths in January and February, so this was a treat, seeing it 6 months later. 

Lone Pine Fruit and Espresso

I... was expecting just that: a place that sold fruit, and espresso. My brother had encouraged me to stop here, so I did, and at 11 ish, may have been thinking of just getting a cup of coffee and peeking at their fruit. But what a neat place. I came away with a 15 pound box of peaches, my lunch (ham and cheese sandwich with a Union Hill Cider from their cold case), a cone of licorice ice cream (oh shush, licorice haters... just don't eat it then), and a dang T-shirt. 

A fine lunch

What a perfect storm of bliss. I got an education on peaches, as there were several different varieties available. I didn't even realize that a "cling" peach was one that stuck to the pit, and that other peaches are called "freestone" peaches. And I got to sample the peaches before buying them. They were perfect. Perfect for me at the moment. You know you've had peaches that are ripe... but are dangerously soft, and will likely last about two minutes. You've also had peaches that you think will ripen on your counter, but sit there for several days and are still oddly unripe. These were just ripe enough to eat. A little firm, but nothing you'd regret eating. I've had some today (a day later), and they've gotten even better. Get those peaches. 

So there I sat, and just enjoyed the company of some unshy House Sparrows as I sipped on a cider and ate my lunch. The umbrella kept the sun off, and the light breeze was perfect. 

And I thought about Barn Owls. 

Hear me out here. They're a bird that I haven't found this year, and there are precious few sightings recorded on eBird. The few locals that I've asked (yep... "Do you know anyone with a barn?" has come up in conversations) have only vaguely mentioned Waterville as a place they've happened to see them. Why not in the agricultural areas down by the Columbia? 

Lunchtime companions

My best thought is that orchards and say... wheat fields... are just different ecosystems. If I'm a mouse, I'm liking the wheat field wayyyy better. An apple up in a tree isn't doing me much good, and the apple trees themselves aren't giving me much cover. And Barn Owls eat, among other things (?), mice. There have been sightings of Barn Owls along the Columbia, but I am going to need to look this over kind of carefully to figure out where to do this search. 

Last Call!

Bridgeport, I believe, was my final destination. I made stops at Starr Boat Launch, and a few other places in Chelan County after crossing the Beebe Bridge - looking across the Columbia, there wasn't much to see outside of a few common gulls. By the time I crossed back into Douglas at Lake Pateros, I was pretty beat. I pulled over at one of the huge pulloffs and just took a nap in the car. 

I woke after a nice little 15 minute catnap, and got the scope aimed out the window at Lake Pateros. 

!

=199 - American White Pelican.  I know the question you're asking, "What kind of a jerk even posts a picture like that?" This kind of a jerk! I can zoom in on this one: 

not much better

I think pictures like this are necessary for truth in advertising ("...forgettable pictures of birds..."), but for what it's worth, I also picked up a pelican shortly thereafter from the Okanogan side.

Can you find the Pelican in the picture? :)

Before leaving Lake Pateros on the Douglas side, I also spotted some more Bonaparte's Gulls. They were a bit closer in than the pelicans, so I had better luck with them:

Bonaparte's Gull

Still not the most beautiful shot, but nice to be able to document a less common gull. 

And that was it! 199 seemed like the perfect number for leaving. I'm coming back in September either way, but it's fun to have that 200th species dangling out there in front of me. 

What's bird number 200 going to be??? Place your bets in the comments section if you'd like. My year list and running tally is fully updated. Keep in mind I'm coming back in September, and keep in mind that I'm probably coming in through Rock Island as I have done nearly every single month. First comment with the correct guess wins a Lone Pine coffee mug. If you're on the East side of the state, I'll leave it there for you. If you're on the West side, we can figure something out. 

I'm kind of curious myself about what it will be. Birds, as it turns out, fly. And September is a month where a whole lot of them are doing a lot of flying.