[Tweeters] Kickoff in Columbia and Walla Walla Counties

[Tim Brennan via Tweeters]

Howdy!

Finally, back on the wet side of the state after a few days in the southeast corner of the state for some focused birding. The goal is to find 150 species in Walla Walla (ez pz) and Columbia (hooboy) counties via monthly trips. Good start with 51 species in Walla Walla and 64 in Columbia.

I'll be blogging for the trip, but wanted to highlight some of the birds found in Columbia in the last few days (5th through the 8th), as Christopher Lindsey has also been putting in some birding hours in Columbia, turning up some good birds - while we did not cross paths, we did spend some time chasing each other's bread crumbs!

Cackling Goose (code 4)- one at Pittman Pond in Dayton, found by Chris and relocated by me this morning.
Gadwall (4) - several out on the Columbia at the end of the hike to ... Tucannon Cove? I don't know if it has a name as a birding spot. If it does, I'll take the correction, but location and approach will be described below in the Swamp Sparrow (!!) part of this report.
Western Grebe (3) - have been found at several spots from Lyons Ferry to Little Goose Dam along the Columbia
Virginia Rail (4) Tucannon Cove
Short-billed Gull (5), Iceland Gull (5), Glaucous-winged Gull (4): Little Goose Dam (By Chris, and I only relocated the SB Gull)
Northern Saw-whet Owl (4) found by me at Lewis and Clark State Park
Long-eared Owl (4) - I found one owling backroads north of Dayton, and heard a second one calling from a pulloff from HWY 261 just after sunrise (not surprising - a LOT of that road looks good for LEOW)
Merlin (4) Turner Road by Chris, I tried unsuccessfully to relocate one seen in Dayton this week. There's always one in Dayton. Somewhere...
Prairie Falcon (4) Turner Road
White-breasted Nuthatch (4) - found by me, calling from a sizable pine stand out on Thorn Hollow Road. Great spot.
Pacific Wren (3) - Lewis and Clark State Park, Tucannon Cove
Marsh Wren (3) - by Chris - Tucannon Cove
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (3) - I found some on Smith Hollow Road - the south end has embankments with lots of nest cavities and a trickle of water in the bottom. I came up to pish for passerines, and the GCRF flew out of cavities nearby - early evening. Some larger cavities look good for Barn Owl, especially given the fields nearby.
White-throated (4) and Golden-crowned (5) Sparrows found by Chris today at Lewis and Clark State Park. No White-crowneds with them!
Swamp Sparrow (first county record!) found by Chris back on the 5th - Tucannon Cove. There's a well-marked pulloff (or two?) for Tucannon HMU, but also an unmarked pulloff on the North Side of 261, a little north of the turn for Powers Road. From the parking area, you can let yourself in through an HMU gate and walk almost a mile and a half (short sections require wading boots) to the point where the Tucannon starts to open up into the Columbia. The Swamp Sparrow was a miss for me, but I bird without anything to play calls. One sparrow acted like a Swamp Sparrow, investigating the first pish, ducking for cover, and never returning lol. But I got no views and no calls. This was a lovely walk with a lot of waterfowl to reward your bushwhacking at the end - no waterfowl in Columbia can be taken for granted!

Weather was beautiful, roads were drivable, just a great few days out exploring - enjoy the breadcrumbs and feel free to leave more - we'd love to see what we can squeeze out of the county this year. My blog should have some entries soon.

Cheers,

Tim Brennan
Renton






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