Saturday January 16th
Three day weekend!
This was the
weekend given to the MLK Jr celebration, and I was fresh out of an assembly put
together by the students at my school.
I teach high school
science, and being able to do it in one of the most diverse school districts in
the country makes this day even more special.
My birding plans were
just for the Saturday and Sunday, however, and I would be doing what I had done
all last year in Mason County: birding from before sunup to sundown.
I made it over the
snowy pass the night before (Stevens this time.
I'm sure I'll take
three different passes into the county during the year.) and stayed on the
cheap at the Motel 6 in Wenatchee.
Owling
I love searching for
owls, and on this morning, I was doing so while the snow fell in ginormous
flakes. My car had a few inches on it as I left
the motel for... Well that's where it used to be confusing to me but I have it
down better now. There's four major parks along the
Columbia in Wenatchee: from north to south:
Confluence State
Park, Horan Natural Area, Walla Walla Point Park, and Riverfront Park.
CHeWeR will
probably help me keep that clear.
I entered at a sign
that said "Wenatchee Confluence State Park", but it was at this bend
in the road where Miller St turns into Hawley St, or the other way around.
This is the point
on the Google Maps image included where Horan Natural Area ends with a little
pinch, then becomes Walla Walla Point Park.
(Riverview is off
the screen bottom right, incidentally).
The Washington
Ornithological Society's "Birder's Guide to Washington State" encouraged
a search of these parks for Western Screech-Owl, so I set off walking and
whistling and listening. As I walked, (into Walla Walla Point,
incidentally) I heard some of my first year birds for Chelan, Mallard (1),
American Wigeon (2), and Canada Goose (3).
About ten minutes
into my walk, I passed an opening in. The trees that lined the water, and saw
scads of geese sitting on the snow on the shore right below me.
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| I was about to caption this, but there's a sign, so... |
I hope anyone has
done something like this with equipment that should have come along.
I did retrieve
them. It was fruitless in the end.
I did give up from
there on owling at the park so that I could get out to other spots for the
morning.
Pioneer Avenue in
Cashmere may become a fairly regular stop.
Some unusual finch
species had been seen here during the month, but I was here for a Great Horned
Owl report. I didn't find one, but there is
something about standing on a small town road with snow falling, just as the
town is starting to wake up, hooting and listening.
I'm hopeful that it
will take many mornings to find my owls!
My final stop for
owling was the Chumstick Highway.
I was vaguely
expecting bigger owls here but had similar luck.
I stopped in at the
Old Mill Cafe in Plain, happy to see the mugs, one of which sits on my counter
at home.
"Careful out
there!" The gal behind the counter told me as she poured my coffee.
The coffee was a
bit weak for me, but I like it sludgy.
I'll make sure to
stop for food some time, as the smells made it hard to head back out.
It was good advice
to be careful... Snow was falling hard, and a text from Ken Hemberry (who I
would meet later) hinted that the snow would fall hardest near Lake Wenatchee.
As west side drivers
go, I'm really not bad in the snow.
I know when to take
it easy, when to keep my speed, and maybe most importantly, what situations to
avoid. I got to Lake Wenatchee and as I
started to move farther North along the lake, I knew I was unlikely to pull
down the side roads and make it out with ease.
I chose valorous
discretion and returned to a better plowed entrance.
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| Yes, I took this before falling in... pretty smart |
Worth the trip...?
Bald Eagle (4),
Pied-billed Grebe (5), Common Raven (6), Mountain Chickadee (7), Northern
Flicker (8), and Dark-eyed Junco (9) were the birds.
Nothing too out of
the ordinary, but it was nice to get a start.
The Mountain
Chickadee was one of the first birds to remind me that I was on the other side
of the Cascades this year.
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| Yep. That dot is a Pied-billed Grebe. Get ready for a year of amazing bird photos, everyone! |
Cashmere to Wenatchee
I had no trouble
making it out of the parking lot, and was on my way to Ken's place between
Dryden and Peshastin. A few birds snuck in during the time
between Lake Wenatchee and the Shell Station where I thought it wise to leave
my car, including Golden-crowned Kinglet (10), Rock Pigeon (11) and Steller's
Jay (12).
Ken drove up to meet
me. I love being part of this weird community where
getting into cars with strangers and walking around people's yards with
binoculars are totally normal. We had gotten into contact via another
birder in the area, and had decided to hit Cashmere to Wenatchee.
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| American Kestrel near Cashmere |
The snow slowed as we
made our way down to Cashmere. Ken and I slowed as we went over the
Wenatchee and we found some Common Mergansers (13).
Apparently, finding
American Dippers on the Wenatchee is kind of trivial although I didn't see any
during that peek (or subsequent peeks).
Debbie Sutherland's
yard in Cashmere has been pulling in Lesser Goldfinches and Common Redpolls, in
addition to the regular Pine Siskins, House Finches, White-crowned Sparrows and
American Goldfinches. Ken and I found all of the above but
the redpolls that morning (14-18).
I can already tell
that Ken and I will bird well together.
I listened to a
Gambeli White-crowned Sparrow singing and knew immediately what it was; he
picked out a female Lesser Goldfinch and similarly walked me through the ID.
The coloring was
definitely different from the washed out Americans in the same bushes, but I
simply would never have picked them out by these field marks.
A male showed up as
well, the full cap being an easier sign of his genetics.
For those of you who
haven't followed along in my blogging before, get used to this!
My birding ear is
pretty good. I can pick up the whole range of
sounds, can recognize songs and subtle differences in calls pretty well.
On the other hand I
don't know what a tertial feather is.
Okay... That's not
entirely true, as I had a chance last year to study a pic of two do witches
species side by side last year and had to learn.
I just immediately
passed out from the effort.
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| Juncos at the feeders - Epledalen |
Our stroll finally
took us to Epledalen a nursing home where other good birds had been seen.
As we walked the
driveway, several Varied Thrushes (28) and American Robins (29) scattered.
Varied Thrushes, I
ought to point out, are awesome. I don't think I had mentioned that in this
particular blog yet. Hearing them sing their eerie song from the safety of some
evergreens while tromping through the snow was a slice of heaven.
We met up with Chuck
Dronen, who manages the center, and he took us on a little tour, from the back
of the center, where there was a platform overlooking a rich wetland below, to
the dining room, where I was encouraged to come grab a cup of coffee and watch
the feeders from a warm chair. Chuck gave me a card just in case
people thought I seemed sketchy in the future.
We also met Chuck's
mom, who keeps her own feeders on site, and had seen Cedar and Bohemian
Waxwings in recent days, visiting the Mountain Ash, which still has plenty of
orange-red berries. "These are birdwatching friends,
mom!" He told her with some good volume, and
we got talking about the birds a bit while juncos hopped around on the porch.
In the end, I was
invited to stop for tea on future visits, as long as I made my intentions clear
to the other residents, "I get too many stories going around about me and
gentleman visitors, you know," she told me with a wink.
Totally coming
back.
Ken and I said our
goodbyes and made our way back to the car.
Continuing up
Pioneer, the route wound up and around farmland where we picked up some more
raptors, including Sharp-shinned Hawk (30), Red-tailed Hawk (31) and Merlin
(32), while missing on Northern Shrike and Rough-legged Hawk.
This is where I
have to apologize for having completely lost the route information, but I know
we were heading generally westward from town on the south side of highway 2,
until we rejoined it and made our way down to Wenatchee.
Wenatchee waterfront
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| View from Walla Walla Point Park up the Columbia |
On this stop, we
began on the southern end of the three continuous parks, Walla Walla Point.
The snow was coming
down again as we drove through huge flocks of American Wigeons, scanning
unsuccessfully for a Eurasian Wigeon that had been seen that week. We parked
and found a spot to scan the large sheltered pond alongside the river, and
picked up quite a few waterfowl.
New birds for the
day included Ring-necked Duck (33), Hooded Merganser (34), Bufflehead (35),
Lesser Scaup (36), and Common Goldeneye (37).
There may have been
Greater Scaup mixed in, but none of the birds that Chuck and I looked at gave
us the right head shape together with the cleaner sides, so we continued north
along the path.
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| Cross Country ski tracks up the path |
As we walked, we
picked up another Red-tailed Hawk, Belted Kingfisher (40), and an Evening
Grosbeak (41) flying overhead. We also found some Green-winged Teals
(42) tucked into a slough during the walk.
We had remote hopes
of finding a Barn Owl which had been seen hunting in fields on the west side of
the trail in Horan (see map at top!), but we found none.
I've seen since
that others have found this bird on more than one occasion, probably at a
better hour. I'll be back!
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| It was snowing, by the way |
Bewick's Wren was our
last target. They're rare in Chelan historically,
but a handful have made their home in Horan just before the bridge that crosses
the Wenatchee River. These guys and nearly every other bird
remained hunkered down on this snowy day, but again, it will be nice just to
know where to come back for a search in better weather.
We made our way
back to the parking lot, circled around to the campground at Wenatchee
Confluence (where we found many of the same ducks, along with some
Double-Crested Cormorants across the river on the Douglas side), then called it
a day.
Leavenworth
It had become nearly
1:00 as Ken and I made our way back to my car.
He told me about a
feeder that had been sparrowy on the Christmas Bird Count, up near Leavenworth,
so I decided it would be feeder, then feed me, then make my way towards Chelan
for the night.
The feeder did
provide the first Golden-crowned Sparrows (43), Red-breasted Nuthatch (44), and
Cooper's Hawk (45) for the day. I ran into the owners as they filled it
up, and they noted that it felt like they were setting up a feeder for hawks!
No Fox Sparrows,
but hordes of Juncos and White-crowned Sparrows, so I navigated off of the side
of the snowy lane and returned to Leavenworth.
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| Leavenworth, from Friday night. |
The Columbia
I have to mention, I
had seen no starlings during the day, and not from lack of looking!
I hadn't searched
per se, but my ears had been open for them for some time!
I pulled the car to
the side of the road as I got to Rocky Reach Dam, scattering what I suspected
were Chukars from the parking lot (I saw a lot more the next day).
Down below I found
some Double-crested Cormorants (46) and a good number of Ruddy Ducks (47)
floating with the ubiquitous scaup and goldeneyes.
Please
don't ask what a "good number" is... It's been over a week and a half
now!
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| Help me with the megafauna... mule deer? white-tailed deer?? Elk??? |
Swakane Canyon heads
West from Highway 97, and I really wanted some chances at Golden Eagle (nope,
but I found lots of Bald) and Northern Shrike (nope, but I did add Black-billed
Magpie (48), which seems to love these barren hillsides.
I got to a point
where it became wise to turn around, but I am excited to explore this canyon.
Even with the snow
I got farther into it than I had been before.
The map lover in me
needs to see the whole thing.
Will Risk park near
Entiat was my last stop with light.
American Coots (49)
and Common Loon (50) were the new birds here.
Chelan
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| Chelan streetfront |
What kind of an idiot
doesn't make hotel reservations until they get to a town?
This kind right
here. I got into Chelan and my eyes widened
as I realized I had walked right into their Winterfest celebration.
There were a ton of
events that actually look like they would have been fun, (I'm still steaming
about missing Soupfest), but I didn't have the energy, having been up early for
owls. Cheap lodging was gone, but I was able
to get a heavily discounted but still pricier than I would normally do room at
the Lakeside Lodge. It came with soup and salad in their
dining room in the evening, and breakfast there in the morning, so I snagged
it.
I settled in to bed,
running through lists and thinking about where I'd start my Sunday.
