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.