September 21st - Balance

Howdy, readers! Blogspot wants the recent posts to show up first, but this trip starts back here on the 19th, so I'll send you back there for continuity. If you're caught up, carry on.

Admittedly, I'd gone into this trip a little out of balance. I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say my computer is to blame. My writing is done on a computer, and of course, especially when we're exhausted or stressed, it's easy to just dive online and come up hours later. 

I'd sent out emails to reviewers and project managers letting them know I was going to be unavailable for a day or so. "GOOD :) " one of them replied, and it really took Douglas Creek to set me right again. 

I'd camped there for the night, and was out of wifi range; I couldn't even get a phone signal. I was truly disconnected, and good Lord, I needed it. By day's end, I had reestablished a little bit of balance, driving home another reason why I choose to do these monthly trips. 

Migration at Douglas Creek

A few years back, I'd been here at Douglas Creek on nearly the same day - perhaps the 22nd. It was a lovely trip as well, and I'd actually come across a Yellow-breasted Chat during that trip, one of the latest records in the state. I wasn't exactly sure what I'd find, but as I woke up to the sound of Varied Thrushes, I knew it would be a good morning. 

So much of the bird traffic on this trip consisted of Yellow-rumped Warblers, and White-crowned Sparrows. I was sifting through these in hopes of a Golden-crowned Sparrow or really any out of place warbler. 

One fun find right in my campsite was an Orange-crowned Warbler! While not a particularly rare bird, it was one that I had "only" heard (although their song is far more interesting than their appearance to me) once back in June, so it was nice to watch this one flit around in the apple tree at the edge of the campground. 

I made breakfast, packed up my tent, and started a lazy hike on the nature trail on the North end of the area.

Bewick's Wrens everywhere

Bewick's Wrens, as it turns out, have historically been more difficult to find on the East side of the state than the West. I remember in Chelan County that I found them more often than I *should* have. This morning, I found 20-30 of them during the three miles out and three miles back. They're listed as a code 3 bird - harder to find - but they were pretty hard to avoid during the walk. Canyon and Rock Wrens were almost as common. 

Hermit Thrush

Thrushes continued to be the fun part of the morning. I forgot to mention in yesterday's post, but Swainson's Thrushes were calling during night flights and well heard from my tent. Along the trail, it was Varied Thrushes that I found first, with 3-4 more along the way. Then I got some good looks at Hermit Thrushes, and even got to enjoy them singing a bit!

Outside of a single Lincoln's Sparrow, nothing else really popped out during the walk. At three miles, I did decide to turn around. A Golden Eagle soaring through the canyon was a nice reward for a fairly long walk. 

As always, other things caught my eye, and I had a couple butterfly species that were fairly common on the trail, but unfamiliar to me. I got a picture of one of those, as well as some berries that I didn't recognize.

Did I mention it was a beautiful morning? 

Open for business

Golden Grain Café and Spirits in Mansfield was once again open for business, so this was my lunch destination. I decided a repeat of my last meal here was in order - going with the Denver omelet. The mugs, incidentally, are not for sale *yet*, but I am hoping to grab one before the year is out!

I did stop once on my way out of Mansfield to chat with some men at work in a field. I asked about Barn Owls, asking the comical question, "Do you know anyone with a barn?" which is never a bad conversation starter. 

What an interesting conversation, and more confirmation of my understanding of property in Douglas County. They described a few roads that had a lot of barns on them that might be worth checking. I raised an eyebrow, and noted that I wasn't too keen on getting shot for trespassing. 

"Oh, just give a knock or something, or look for owners first. Honestly, as long as you're not hunting, they're not going to care." I'll see. I may find some modified version of this method that I'm more comfortable with, but it helps make more and more sense of the signs that seemed so in-your-face from the start of the year. Many landowners have to deal with the headaches of people trespassing and hunting on their land. While I don't think my comfort will extend to trespassing, I am far more comfortable inquiring now. 

Turkey Vulture

Bridgeport

My first Bridgeport stop was at Chief Joseph Dam. The reward here was great views of American White Pelicans. 

A few gulls passed by, but all seemed to be California, Ring-billed, or Herring - all species I'd seen previously. 

My next stop was at Bridgeport Bar. Oh man, there were scads and scads of White-crowned Sparrows here. Unfortunately, I found no other Zonotrichia sparrows (White-throated, Golden-crowned, Harris') mixed in. As of this writing, all three of those have been seen in Douglas County this year! As I passed another sparrow-filled pile of branches, however I did get a nice surprise: 

Sandhill Crane (202)

I'd missed Sandhill Cranes in the spring, and had pretty much written them off as a possibility for the year. I knew that they were an outside possibility for the fall, but it was still a pleasant surprise when one flushed from the field behind me, calling distinctively.

Last stop: Lake Pateros. Folks, this is what Lake Pateros looks like this time of year:

Just a fraction of the birds out there. And I was unfortunately feeling quite content at this point. I tried to spend some time carefully picking through the birds, but distance made this a challenge, and I likely needed another set of eyes there with me to get me to focus.

I looked at the time - There was just enough time to get to Ellensburg, find a café with Wi-Fi, and hop onto a training call for a new project. It would also give me a chance to pop in and drop off a big bag of apples with my son. So I departed Douglas for Ellensburg, which should have been the end of the story on this trip. 

Except that. . . 

That darn tire started losing air again. I made it all the way home eventually with a reasonable amount of air in the tire, and eventually found my way to the Renton Les Schwab, as described in the post from the 19th.

"We found a nail in it. Not hard to see or anything," the gal behind the counter told me. I smiled in part because it was finally fixed, and in part because I knew she would be able to give her sister from the East Wenatchee Les Schwab a hard time at some point. 

We're in the home stretch, folks! It will be interesting to see what October, November, and December bring.