Running Tally and Needs List - updated for June onward.

166 birds by the end of May:

So here are the code 1-2 birds I have left:

Code 1 birds ("easy" birds, although it can be funny how that turns out!)

1. Common Nighthawk
2. Orange-crowned Warbler

Almost there!  The Orange-crowned are a bit of a puzzle, but I'm hopeful that we will cross paths.  These would put me at 168.

Code Two birds:  These generally take a little bit of planning, but that planning will usually result in finding the bird in question, especially if that planning means multiple attempts!

1. Blue-winged Teal (These may have to be seen in the fall - there were May sightings, but none recently)
2. Cinnamon Teal (Where do they go??  Migrated through in spring, and there are few/no fall records - only a small handful of breeding season records)
3. Northern Pintail (I had seen no reports on these until a recent report from a boat on the way up to Stehekin recorded 30 of them!  They are supposedly very local birds, so hopefully I'll be able to catch them up there.)
4. Dusky Grouse
5. Sooty Grouse (I know both of these grouse could be possible in some locations, so I'm going to work hard to spend time in areas where there ranges do not overlap, as identification may be a bit tricky otherwise)
6. Western Grebe
7. Northern Harrier (Haha.. very funny... where are you guys hiding... seriously???)
8. Least Sandpiper
9. Herring Gull (hoping late in the year is better for gulls than early in the year was)
10. Caspian Tern
11. Northern Pygmy-Owl
12. Black Swift
13. Vaux's Swift
14. Lewis' Woodpecker
15. Willow Flycatcher
16. Northern Shrike (missed it!  will have to try when winter months return)
17. Clark's Nutcracker
18. Brown Creeper
19. American Pipit
20. Bohemian Waxwing (see shrike)
21. Savannah Sparrow (Not a clue.  I've tried Burch Mountain and Oklahoma Gulch, but neither turned one up for me.  Another puzzle, although of all places, it looks like they might be findable at... Washington Pass??  We shall see!)
22. Lincoln's Sparrow (I'll look in high elevation this summer, but they seem to explode in September with sightings nearly anywhere.)


So if I "just" find all of these, along with the code 1 birds, I'd be at 190.  I've taken 47 code 2 birds off of this list so far this year, including a couple tricky ones!  It will be interesting to see which one or two give me trouble through the end of the year.   As the whole needs list shrinks, some of these will be birds I plan around - others I'll be patient for.

Code 3 birds - Birds that are seen annually, but are not as easy to find as code 2's.  These are tough birds!

1. Pacific Loon (I may miss this one as a spring migrant, so I'll be hoping for them on the Columbia in mid-October to mid November)
2. Tundra Swan (also more likely as a fall migrant now, with an even smaller window.  I felt luck to find Trumpeters back in January on the Columbia!)
3.  Eurasian Wigeon (missed one early in the year.  Fingers crossed for the fall.)
4. Harlequin Duck (Icicle Creek and some other high elevation streams have these guys breeding.  It will take some planning and persistence, but they'll be out there.)
5. White-tailed Ptarmigan ("Sahale Arm" comes up for Chelan County, with several sightings along a ridge surrounding a lake.  There are also some spots down in the Enchantments, which might fit with a search for the Harlequins.  This would be a life bird for me!)
6. Eared Grebe (missed some by a day, darn it.  Although they do breed in Eastern Washington, that does not include, to my knowledge, anywhere in Chelan.  Fall migration - fingers crossed)
7. Northern Goshawk (year round and in Chelan, it can be just about anywhere, although high elevation clear cuts are classic habitat for them.  I won't try to find one.  Hopefully one will find me.)
8.  Rough-legged Hawk (winter bird that I missed.  For this one and goshawk, the fall migration might be productive up on Chelan Ridge)
9. Sandhill Crane (my best shot just passed with spring migration)
10. Western Sandpiper (probably fall migration)
11.  Greater Yellowlegs (I'll miss the spring migration, and will hope for fall.  This is sounding far too familiar!)
13. Bonaparte's Gull (May and October, apparently.  I'd take any gull)
14. Glaucous-winged Gull (winter birds - maybe next winter, yeah?)
15. Black-chinned Hummingbird (not a clue - hoping for feeder reports, honestly)
16. Anna's Hummingbird (same deal, obviously in winter, they would be easier to pick out! Other species will largely clear out by October)
17. Red-breasted Sapsucker (another Lake Wenatchee target, although they will also be mixed in with Red-naped and hybrids for the months to come)
18. Black-backed Woodpecker (excited for this search as well - recent burns on either side of Lake Chelan should be drivable by my next trip)

So the code three birds would bring me to... 208.  Now, I'm not expecting to find all of these.  No way!  So far in four trips, I've found 27 birds at code 3 or higher.  If I pick up 2-3 on average in the trips to come, I could even miss some of the code 2 birds (which I certainly will!)  Nearly 30 other species of shorebirds and gulls alone have wandered into Chelan, and there are a handful of code 4-5 birds (Spruce Grouse, Broad-winged Hawk, Boreal Owl, American Three-toed Woodpecker, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Gray-crowned Rosy Finch and White-winged Crossbill) that I'll be making efforts to find as the summer moves along and the hiking gets a little more snow-free.

Thankfully, some of these overlap with other birds I'm looking for.  For example, in September, I plan to hit the Hawkwatch, which has possibilities for Rough-legged, Northern Harrier, Northern Goshawk, Broad-winged Hawk and Swainson's Hawk, although not all at the same time.  A trip to the county line may bring me Black-backed Woodpeckers and Dusky Grouse, while also holding the possibility of Spruce Grouse.

I'm reeling a bit from the 50+ birds I added in May - still have to work out the plans for June and July, although I know at least some of it will be with the kiddos, as all of us have the summer off.  There are definitely some attempts I'll make to clean up on some of the breeding birds (Willow Flycatcher at Stevens?  Black-chinned at feeders?  Savannah Sparrow and Lewis's Woodpecker, but where?).

I'm leaning more and more towards a hike from Stehekin to Washington Pass in July, and I'm *really* liking the idea of another "blanket" trip in October - getting a field trip set up with groups covering different parts of the county in the morning, then meeting up to share notes a little after lunch, with the afternoon free to chase down good sightings from the morning.  With so many possibilities along the Columbia, at the parks in Wenatchee, and at the few shorebird spots in the county like the Cashmere STP, I'm hopeful that this could turn up some good birds.

So that's where it all sits!   If you have any thoughts as the year goes along, please drop me a message!

May Birding trip wrap-up: May 29th

Sleep?

I really did sleep pretty well in the back of my car, and woke up with things a bit cooler sometime around midnight.  I stared at the roof of my car and thought about possible plans.  I was missing Common Poorwill, and knew that other than that, I wanted to see the sun come up on Burch Mountain.  Burch Mountain is the round peak that sits north of Wenatchee and dips its feet in the Columbia River.  I'd never been, but it was a spot that had a lot of birds that had been hard to find elsewhere in Chelan County.


The previous day had been a long one, with over 100 species in a day (first time I've ever done that), and 50 species removed from my needs list.  I'd fallen asleep fairly early, and woke up early again.  I looked over the maps and finally figured out how to get to Burch Mountain.  Just barely out of town things already started to clear out around the road.  The road up is gravel, so I tried to take it slowly, as it was still dark. What I couldn't see, but would see on the way down in the morning, was a lot of sage and grass.  I was able to see Wenatchee at night though!

Wenatchee (and East Wenatchee!) from Burch Mountain

The same view by morning light

I actually made it all the way to the top and a gated end to the road.  I was surprised not to have come across any Common Poorwill on the road, especially after it entered some Ponderosa Pines near the top, but I had such a peaceful spot, I didn't mind at all.  I actually woke up to Poorwill calls (161 for the year - no day list today, thank God!), and sat waiting for it to become day.

It was such an awesome and birdy morning.  I took it much slower than the birding from the day before, and had nearly 40 species in very different habitat than I had visited the previous morning.  In the first part of the morning, Western Tanagers were the first ones to start singing, followed by Dusky and Gray Flycatchers, Warbling Vireos and Western Wood Pewees.  The Gray Flycatchers were new for the year (162).  Another birder had tipped me off on finding Brewer's Sparrows just below the treeline in the big sage, and they were indeed singing away (163), although they stayed out of view despite a little more playback than I usually am comfortable with. 

Gratuitous scenery shot

The other birds I was really hoping for were Savannah Sparrows (nope!) and Horned Larks (yes!  164), with Larks showing up in several spots on the way down - never long enough for pictures, but long enough for nice looks.  I had to let the Savannah Sparrows go - they had been seen on other people's visits, and I tried every patch of grass I could on the way down, but just never heard one.  If only birds would stay put instead of flying... sheesh.  :D  

The checklist for the morning, minus the poorwill:  Burch Mountain 5/29 checklist

Number Two Canyon

An Ash-throated Flycatcher sure would be a nice find this year, and this is not a bad road for them!  I hadn't been up this road in full light before, anyway, so I made this my next stop (after Starbucks and a nap!).  None were heard, but there were even more birds here than on Burch!  Nearly 50 species, the surprise being a Bewick's Wren!
Number 2 Canyon list 5/29 

The only new bird for the year was Purple Finch (165).  The number of warblers, vireos and flycatchers was amazing, and Bullock's Orioles were chattering nearly non-stop.  I got a nice view of a Calliope Hummingbird, and a pair of Red-tailed Hawks.  Now... I've heard about Bald Eagles doing... ya know... while tumbling through the air.  I briefly thought that this was happening with the hawks, but it would seem that they don't share that habit with eagles. 
Either way, it was fun to watch them tangling it up with each other!

It's... not how it looks

The road gets soooo sketchy that I just walked for a bit, enjoying the birds, the flowers, and the sun.  I know that this continues all the way around to Horse Lake, but the ol' Taurus just isn't built for it.

Flowers in the Canyon

At this point, I could have traveled up the Columbia towards Chelan, and even had blessings from the family to stay through Monday, but there were still a few spots on and around Highway 2 that were calling me.  The fishing access at Dryden was one of those spots.  Blue-winged Teal had been sighted here.  I was curious about how the Wenatchee River could hold them, and I found the answer - a little pond sits just in from the river.  It was duckless at the time, but I did find Gray Catbirds, and more Purple Finches.  It was a nice little walk!


Mountain Home Ridge Road

Mountain Home Ridge Road

Kevin Black had pointed out to me that there was a back road that goes to Leavenworth during our trip in February.  I... Love back roads.  I took this one all the way through to Leavenworth, although I did not get to Boundary Butte - another spot that has some good reports.  It was very drivable, and had some interesting scenery along the way, as one of the private land owners appears to have built his own little rail track - from all I could find, it was in the hopes of turning it into resort land, but there's apparently not enough water up there to make it feasible.

Western Tanager

Flowery meadows - Mountain Home Ridge Road

Leavenworth and Icicle Creek from above

Cassin's and Warbling Vireos were common on the trip, and I got nice views of some Nashville Warblers and a Western Tanager.  At one point, I heard a hummingbird that my ears wanted to turn into a Black-chinned, but I never got to see it well enough to know, and.. I just haven't heard those birds enough.   The new bird for that stretch was Fox Sparrow (166), heard in a flowery meadow near the top before it descended to Leavenworth.  

What was I missing at this point?

Stevens Pass Ski Area

1) Willow Flycatcher
2) Northern Pygmy-Owl
3) Home
4) Orange Crowned Warbler

I could have gone either direction from here, but chose to head up towards Stevens Pass.  I meandered some of the forest roads in the area - not all of them perfectly passable yet - and even hiked up the ski hill a good ways before hanging things up.  I suppose 5 and 6 on the list of things I was missing could easily have been Black and Vaux's Swifts.  I called it a day from there and made it home with no huge traffic headaches.

A Century in Chelan - Saturday 5/28

Early birds

I had a few different goals as I woke up Saturday morning at my campsite near Blewett Pass.  I had hopes of finding Flammulated Owls and/or Common Poorwills on the forest road, but I also wanted to make it to a spot above Lake Wenatchee before sunrise.  All of this led to an early start.  One?  Two in the morning?   I'd like to say that I remembered, but it was a long day, and I'm already a couple days out from it.  I woke with three or four ideas on where to find either of my targets, and I started it with FR7324--800.

Drive... stop... listen... call... rinse... lather... repeat.  I think I wove some naps into the process, as well, but it was pretty quiet on that road, so I hit Highway 97 with a list of zero.  Old Blewett Pass... nothing.  Camas Meadows... and I got my first bird of the day sometime around 3 AM:  Great Horned Owl (-, 1).

I had to think this one over, and I apologize if it becomes cumbersome, but I am going to throw Yearlist and Daylist numbers in parentheses as I go.  I have had Great Horned Owls on every trip to Chelan this year, so it wasn't a new bird for the year, but it was a new one for the day.   It was a pretty big day of birds, so I'll tally those too.

As I got out of the car, a flycatcher let out a gravelly call and went silent, so there wasn't a way to figure out if it was a Dusky or a Hammond's.  I figured I'd have plenty of both during the day, so I let it go.

Eagle Creek Road

Yellow-breasted Chat - not from Eagle Creek Road.

Yowzah.  This spot had so many birds, it was nearly overwhelming.  I came for some birds that I didn't end up finding, but had a surprise bird, and the sheer diversity was just crazy.  I got onto this road, just north of Leavenworth off of Chumstick Highway, at about 4-4:30 AM.  The first birds were a pair of Great Horned Owls calling (the fella on bass, the lady on baritone), and a Flammulated Owl (123, 2) calling on tenor just above them.

I had a fair number of birds that were not new for the year, but were for the day: California Quail, Killdeer, Mourning Dove, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, Cassin's Vireo, Violet-green Swallow, Black-capped Chickadee, Mountain Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Robin, Nashville Warbler, MacGillivray's Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler,  Chipping Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, American Goldfinch, Cassin's Finch and Evening Grosbeak.  All calling in the morning chorus, and most all of them before it was light as I continued owling up the road.  In addition to those 24 birds, I got a pair of Barred Owls (124, 27) calling from across the creek.

New for the year were Hammond's and Dusky Flycatchers, Warbling Vireo, House Wren, Veery, Swainson's Thrush, Gray Catbird, American Redstart, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Lazuli Bunting.  Eleven new birds to bring me to 135 for the year and 38 for the morning.

I've described before in these blogs that I'm a fairly good ear birder, and fairly lacking at times with some of the field marks that separate some birds from each other.  I'd still say that this morning stretched my ability to recognize songs.  To have been absent from the East side for a month and a half and then to show up with all of these new birds singing, some of them in slightly different songs than on the West side, it was a bit overwhelming at times!  I have a number of birds which I see as being close but generally distinguishable by song:

Chipping Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco take some thought, and when the songs get close to each other (a Junco making an insect-like call, or a Chipper singing a little shorter rather than a long drawn-out call) aren't something I'd call without seeing the bird.  Yellow warbler can make me think of Wilson's if it gets a little staccato.  Dusky and Hammond's Flycatchers have very similar groups of notes that they'll sing, but Hammond's drops in a single note "Peek!" while Dusky has its "Deehic" that make them separable.  Cassin's Vireo and Red-eyed Vireo are also ones I have to relearn each year;  House Wren takes me a minute because it registers as a wren, but all of the other ones run through my head first.  Lazuli Bunting makes me think of a sassy Goldfinch, but again leaves me sitting there confused for a minute before I realize what is singing.

All of this is going  off in my head at once!  As I casually mention that I've added 37 birds by sound, I didn't want to leave the impression that it wasn't a struggle with some of them, and in some cases, the birds were calling over each other.  Like I said, Yowzah!

The American Redstart has a song that I had listened to in the car on the way over.  It's a lot like Yellow Warbler, but a bit thinner, a little more strident - nothing lazy about the song, and not one that is easy to ignore.  I recorded that one to make sure it was fitting the bill, and was a little sad that this one was not coming up for a visit.  As I look back, I realize that I was doing nearly no pishing to bring the birds up closer - maybe just from being overwhelmed at the time - they all seemed very busy singing and it just felt like it shouldn't be interrupted just to bring a bird up to be seen in the half light of 4:45 AM.

On the way to White River - a prescribed burn!

I had a few more birds as it became light - Mallards (-, 39), Tree Swallow (-, 40),  and Red-winged Blackbird (-, 41) all near a marsh where I'd been hoping for Virginia Rail and Sora.  Neither called back, which surprised me at this hour, but I know they have both been found here several times this year.  I left the road with my head spinning.

Teaching high school science, this fit right in with the fire ecology unit to end the year

 

Prescribed Burn - Chumstick Highway

White River Bridge

I was advised that this bridge - north of Lake Wenatchee - could be quite birdy, especially with some species that might be tough to find elsewhere.  As I drove up Chumstick Highway, I picked up Eurasian Collared-Dove (-, 42), Turkey Vulture (-, 43), Northern Rough-winged Swallow (-,44) and House Sparrows (-, 45).  The highway took me past the little town of Plain, and up to Little Wenatchee River Road.  I took it probably less than a mile to a gated portion and walked it from there.

This was a nice little area, and I got Townsend's Warblers (136, 46) fairly early on, followed pretty quickly by Black-throated Gray Warblers (137, 47).  The latter is a code 4 in the county, but there do seem to be a good handful of places to look for them, and it wouldn't surprise me if they slipped up into the threes (birds seen anually but not very common) eventually.  Wilson's Warblers (138, 48) were also heard, along with MacGillivray's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped and Nashville.  It was an awesome little stretch for them!  Apparently Orange-crowned was found here during the same week, which would have made for a nine warbler morning!

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Actually... it was a nine warbler morning.  I returned back over the bridge and stopped to survey the marsh just on the other side.  Common Yellowthroat (139, 49) was warbler number nine, and it came with a whole mess of other birds:  Barn Swallow (140, 50), Yellow-headed Blackbird (141, 51), Wilson's Snipe (142, 52), Sora (143, 53), Virginia Rail (-, 54), Ruffed Grouse (-, 55), Pygmy Nuthatch (-, 56), Marsh Wren (-, 57), Golden-crowned Kinglet (-, 58), and Common Raven (-, 59)  made the yearlist and daylist grow quite a bit in a short bit of time! 

"Fifty birds before breakfast"

Old Mill Cafe in Plain

My late friend Pete Fahey would always joke that we had to tally fifty birds before breakfast.  It was always done with an eyeroll, as it never took too long in New Jersey during migration to earn that meal.   We never ever hit 50 species before breakfast together, but I definitely was thinking of him as I rolled into the Old Mill Cafe a little before nine.  His Chelan list was pretty poor, as most people's seem to be.  It's way too easy to just try to pick up a bird or two in Chelan on the way to somewhere "better", but it seemed to have a pretty amazing mix of birds on this Saturday morning!

The Old Mill Cafe is under new ownership, by the way.  I had never sat down for a meal before, so I can't say if it's gotten better or worse, but the skillet I ordered was pretty good!  The order did get botched (they let you build your own skillet like you would with a pizza per topping).  I got someone else's broccoli and onions instead of sausage and mushrooms.  They were very sweet about offering to cook up a new one for free, but it was pretty good, and I'd already wolfed it down before it even became a discussion.  I... may have brought instant coffee packets to make the coffee a little less transparent, but the food and service were pretty good all in all.

Fish Lake

I keep seeing the best reports from this lake!  It was a good stop, but the lake was pretty busy on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.  As I rolled up the road towards the cove, I saw (Dark-eyed Junco) and heard (Olive-sided Flycatcher the 60th and 61st species of the day, with the Flycatcher making it 144 for the year.  In the parking area, I laughed as I realized the American Crow flying by was the first for the day (-, 62).

Fish Lake General Store - Osprey in the distance

There... are fish in the lake.  I saw some jump, but the number of people fishing from the dock and the water, together with the number of Osprey (I counted six of them - 63rd species for the day), there's no way there weren't one or two fish in there.  As I watched the Osprey circling, I got a nice surprise as a Peregrine Falcon (145, 64) flew right through the hovering birds. I knew of a couple places to check for nests, so it was nice to have this code 3 bird find me!

Yellow Warbler

Back in the parking lot, a flock of Cedar Waxwings (146, 65) played through the trees lining the campgrounds.  I slipped up close and found that it was pretty easy to get good looks at the Yellow Warblers that I'd been hearing all day.  I didn't try to rent a pontoon boat, but apparently that's the way to go for birding on the lake.  This meant that I wouldn't be able to make an earnest search of the marsh on the west end of the lake for Cinnamon Teal, Wilson's Phalarope or Eared Grebe.  All three had been seen during May on the lake, the latter seen in breeding plumage during the Leavenworth Spring Bird Festival.  A Great Blue Heron (-, 66) was the last new day bird at Fish Lake before I headed back towards Lake Wenatchee.

Kahler Glen

Nason Creek

I made my next stop at Kahler Glen.  This is a resort with golf, skiing, and horseback riding (saw some on the trails I walked).  I had a chance to visit a private residence from someone I'd contacted before the trip.  My target was Band-tailed Pigeon, and I was able to find one (147, 67) - another code 3 bird that I was happy to get this easily after just a 15-20 minute wait at someone's feeder.  The feeders also brought in a large number of Steller's Jays (-, 68), and Brown-headed Cowbirds (-, 69), as well as my first Calliope Hummingbird of the year (148, 70).

Black-backed Woodpeckers here - just not today

I moved the car to a gravel lot across from the driving range and followed a path down towards Nason Creek.  The creek itself had Spotted Sandpiper (149, 71) and Belted Kingfisher (-, 72).  Western Wood Pewees were calling from the trail, and I tried to snap a picture or two of them.  The main reason for heading here was a clump of trees which had been... denuded (teehee).  The bark had been pulled back and was apparently being visited at times by Black-backed Woodpeckers.  They do find things to eat when there haven't been fires!  None showed up for me today, so I moved on to Tumwater Campground, leaving the Lake Wenatchee loop for the day.

Tumwater Campground

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

The park itself was closed, but I wasn't the only person walking the trails - a handful of mushroom foragers quietly poked around the site as I listened for birds.  The first and easiest was a Chestnut-backed Chickadee, by 150th bird for the year.  It came close enough to get a pic with my phone, and it felt a little like home having this common west side bird hopping around in the evergreens.  It took a longer walk to get to a tree that had a Red-eyed Vireo (151, 74) hidden and singing in its upper branches.  

Cedar Waxwings, Western Wood-Pewee, Yellow, Nashville and McGillivray's Warbler were all present, as well as some Black-headed Grosbeaks, Western Tanagers and Cassin's Vireos.  Very birdy spot!  Oh!  Almost forgot another new bird for the day, Pileated Woodpecker (-, 75), drumming away at the top of a snag.  Incidentally, the day list is literally coming to me as I go... it will be interesting to see which ones I miss by the end of this.  I'll add them in at the end!

Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort

White-headed Woodpecker

I had a few targets here, and one shall remain a puzzle for the moment.  The first though - White-headed Woodpecker (152, 76), couldn't have made it any easier!  The drumming led me right to the bird, and it stayed in plain view as I snapped a few pictures with my phone.  This is the place to find these birds - they are often tracked by the employees.  I also found a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches nesting in one of the cabins (-, 77), and a few Pacific-slope Flycatchers calling loudly near the guest cabins (153, 78).


Anna's Hummingbird has been reported several times for the Sleeping Lady, and... there's nearly no way it could be as regular as it is without a feeder, but I asked around and none of the employees were aware of any hummingbird feeders.  May just have been asking the wrong ones, but I kept up my walk for a bit and just couldn't find them.  If you know where they keep their feeders, do let me know!

White-breasted Nuthatch

I went up the road along Icicle Creek for a while, stopping periodically for Harlequin Duck without success.  I may just not have gone far enough, as they were reported later in the week!  This is a code three bird that regularly breeds in Chelan County and can be found on turbulent mountain rivers.  I added Common Merganser to the day list (-, 79) and returned to town, where I added House Finch (-, 80).

Just after finding the House Finch, I passed a home with a couple of hummingbird feeders sitting outside.  The owner was out mowing the lawn, so I pulled over and rolled down the window to talk birds.  I asked him about the hummingbirds, and his first comment was about "the red sonofabitches" arriving and chasing away the ones he had through the winter.  So there's a start, anyway!  He probably had Anna's at his feeders, and it sounded from his conversation like he still had them off and on, but their time at the feeder was limited by the Rufous hummingbird that arrived in the spring.

Cashmere STP

My next stop was Cashmere, where I had my fingers crossed for a Cinnamon or Blue-winged Teal.  These birds seem to come through in April and May in some decent numbers, and then kind of evaporate!   As I got my first looks at the water, I found a Wood Duck (-, 81) female with a handful of babies in tow.  The ducks did as they always seem to do - two by two hustling off to the far end of the water.  It's not all that big, so it felt okay to say there weren't any Cinnamon Teals floating around, but I went ahead and started walking the dike to see.

Wilson's Phalarope - Cashmere STP

New for the day was a Pied-billed Grebe (-, 82), and then I spied a tiny bird mixed in with the ducks.  Phalarope!   I assumed at first that it was Wilson's, although looking at the bar charts, Red-necked Phalaropes are still migrating through in late May.  The pictures were clear enough to show it was a Wilson's (154, 83).  It eventually flew back around the corner and out of sight, so I made my way around to the opposite side of the STP, where a couple was investigating a tree pretty carefully.

Bullock's Oriole Female

Bullock's Oriole (155, 84) - a male and a female had made a nest in the trees lining the STP, and gave me my first listen to oriole chatter for the year.  We exchanged notes on the day, and I let them know about the phalarope down around the corner before continuing down Highway 2. (Doh!  Just figured out birds I had missed in the tallyl - Bald Eagle at Fish Lake (-, 85), Pine Siskin on Little Wenatchee River Road (-, 86), and Hermit Thrush on that same road (-, 87).



Colockum Road

Note how the male Bullock's Oriole blends in with his surroundings :D

It had been a month and a half since I'd visited here in April, so I drove through Wenatchee (picking up 88 - Rock Pigeon), and down Colockum Road out of town.  It was amazing how many new day birds I got just by moving on to different habitat:  Red-tailed Hawk, Chukar, Black-billed Magpie, American Kestrel, and Western Meadowlark were among the early ones, taking the day to 93.

Western and Eastern Kingbird - Colockum Road

Early on I also had some Western Kingbirds (156, 94), and songs that I thought might be Lark Sparrows.  I listened to recordings and was feeling pretty comfortable, although this is *not* one that I get to hear very often, so I was happy when I found one perched and singing the same song in the sage. (157, 95)

Lark Sparrow - Colockum Road

Continuing along the sage, I found Bank Swallows (158, 96), Say's Phoebe (-, 97) and once I got down Trapsacan Road, some Brewer's Blackbirds (-, 98) and European Starlings! (-, 99).  I had it in my head that Black-throated Sparrow and Sage Thrasher were possibilities out here, but it didn't pan out.  I reached the end of the road.. well... then end of what would have been drivable for me, and returned to Colockum.  Taking that a bit further brought me to some riparian areas where I finally added my first Eastern Kingbird of the year (159, 100).

I had made it to about three in the afternoon and felt it was time to support the local economy, so it was back to Wenatchee for beer and good food.  I sat down at McGlinn's - a place I'd visited back in April - and tried to figure out what had happened!

Tiiiiiireddddd

I'd been up since... okay that's a hard number to nail down, with the breaks I took in the owling, but I had been up a long time, and had that sleepiness that comes from having seen a lot of birds.  I made one last stop for the evening - down at Walla Walla Point Park (Canada Goose - 101 for the day), then to Confluence.  As I was driving to Confluence, I caught a bird flying overhead, and it seemed to be a California Gull (160, 102).  I pulled over and watched it as it flew West.  I figured it would circle back toward the Columbia, but it got smaller and smaller in my binoculars.  It then was joined by a few more similar gulls, and then by a half-dozen or so smaller gulls right along side them  - some Ring-billed Gulls to make it 103 species for the day.   I'm very curious about where they might roost!

Walla Walla Point Park

I needed to roost.   It was only late afternoon, but hotels were all booked up for Memorial Day weekend, and the campgrounds I had passed were all pretty full, so I went to the place that always welcomes people sleeping in their RV's or cars - the parking lot of the Super Wal-Mart.   Who knows if anyone passed my car as I slept, but I dropped pretty hard despite the sunlight of the late afternoon.