In January 2016 an armed group of protesters seized and occupied the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon. By the time the occupation was over in February 2016, there was a considerable amount of destruction of the refuge facilities, resulting in closure of the headquarters facilities for months. Unfortunately, I had planned a summer 2016 birding trip to the sagebrush country of eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and southern Idaho to include a lengthy stop at Malheur NWR. But given the issues at Malheur I shelved those plans and headed to Alberta and British Columbia that summer instead.
But my interests in birding eastern OR, eastern WA, and
southern ID continued as this was the last large section of the Lower 48 that I
had not yet birded. And a new part of
the country for me would equate to considerable statebirding potential. So after further delays first due to moving,
and then due to Covid, I finally got around to scheduling the OR/WA/ID
sagebrush country trip for the summer of 2023.
Plus I added a short side-trip to the South Hills of ID for Cassia
Crossbill. I reached out to birding
friend David Donsker who often joins me on these trips, and he agreed to come
along.
After considerable research on-line especially on eBird, and
with invaluable advice from a number of local birders, I set up an 11-day
itinerary from May 24th to June 3rd, starting in southern ID, then into eastern
OR, next into southeastern WA, then back to ID for flights back home. Plus I reached out to long-time WA birding
buddy Blair Bernson for his advice. He
also helped me connect with local expert birders Mike and MerryLynn Denny and Phil
Bartley who provided excellent advice to bird southeastern WA. Given the potential statebirds in the area I
hoped to add perhaps 12 new birds in WA.
But simply adding a lot of statebirds wasn’t my only
objective for the trip. Years ago, the
ABA allowed you to report your totals for a given state only if your total
exceeded half of the total number of species ever recorded in that state. Early in my birding career I had set a goal
to be able to report my totals to the ABA in each of the continental 49
states. Eventually I exceeded those
thresholds in each state except one – OR, for which I exceeded the threshold on
this trip. Although those ABA reporting
thresholds no longer exist, they still represent a logical set of standards to
strive for in each state.
But the state totals inch up over the years as new birds are
added to the official state list. As a
result, I set a somewhat arbitrary goal of being 15 over those old ABA
thresholds (I call it “ABA plus 15”). I
started the 2023 trip with 267 species in WA, 19 over the old ABA reportable
threshold of 248, and 4 over my ABA plus 15 threshold of 263. But WA has added so many birds to its state
list in recent years that as of October 2022 the official state list has risen
to 522. Half that total is 261 – simply
being 15 over the old ABA threshold may not be enough to stay over half the
state total for much longer.
So adding enough WA birds to stay comfortably above half
their state list was a secondary objective for this trip.
This blog post presents a summary of the WA portion of the
trip. My previous posts briefly
summarized the entire trip and detailed the ID and OR portions.
Day 7 – May 30 - Drive to Walla Walla
My initial plan was to have Walla Walla as our home base for
most of our WA birding. While there we
would stay at the home of a good friend of David’s, Alan Peterson. But since my first birding spots were to the
west in the Tri-Cities area, we decided that I would make those stops on my own
after dropping David off at Alan’s house.
On Day 7 of our trip, after a morning of birding in northeastern OR, we
arrived in the Walla Walla area mid-afternoon.
I then dropped off David and was off to WE Johnson Park in Benton County
to meet up with Blair. This spot was
suggested by Blair because of the potential to see Black-chinned Hummingbird at
private feeders adjacent to the park, and Yellow-breasted Chats in the park
nearby.
But even before I left Walla Walla I spotted my first WA
statebird – a Swainson’s Hawk flying along the roadway. My statebird map for this species is inserted
below. Blue-shaded states are those
where I’ve seen this western species; the cross-hatched states are those in its
regular range where I’ve yet to see it.
When I arrived at the park Blair was waiting for me at the
edge of the private yard with lovely gardens and most importantly a pair of
hummingbird feeders. Just minutes before
I arrived he had both a Black-chinned at the feeder and a Chat perched
prominently in the park next door. Now
we just had to wait for them both to return.
We waited a while for the Hummer but with no luck, so we decided to take
a short walk into the park. And after a few
minutes we started to hear a Chat though it was being bashful and never popped
out into the open (WA statebird #2). WA
was my last western state for this species – I just need it in a couple Midwest
states near the northern edge of its range.
And I’ve seen it in 4 New England states shaded in brown as a rarity.
With that one out of the way we headed back to the yard and continued our vigil for the Black-chinned. After a while with no activity we thought about calling it quits. And then we noticed the homeowner had come out to her front yard and we struck up a conversation with her. She invited us into her back yard where we could have a better view of the feeders while standing in the shade on that hot day. And within just a few minutes we had a female come to the feeder and nearby flowers (WA statebird #3). And a couple minutes later a male arrived and proceeded to go through its elaborate “U” shaped courtship display. Quite amazing to watch and glad we waited. Here’s a picture of part of the gardens with the Black-chinned perched at the top of the bare snag with the park in the background.
Afterwards we made a feeble attempt to try for Grasshopper Sparrow and Chukar seen nearby last year, but realized the locations given in eBird weren’t sufficiently detailed. So we decided to call it quits for the day and we’d meet up again the next morning.
Day 8 – May 31 – Benton County and Tri-Cities
I was on my own on my first stop of the day in excellent
sagebrush habitat south of Rattlesnake Mountain in Benton County. Phil had given me great advice for finding my
targets at this location, and I mapped out a route through the sagebrush to get
to all the suggested spots. I started
there pre-dawn along Rotha Road on the off-chance that I could run into a
Poorwill reported there in previous years, even though Phil said they were no
longer possible there. I should have
listened to Phil as I struck on the Poorwills though I had 24 individual Horned
Larks sitting on the road in front of me – couldn’t turn any of them into a
resting Poorwill. I also heard numerous
Common Nighthawks overhead. Plus, in the
light of my headlights 3 different Lark Sparrows flushed from the roadway (WA
statebird #4) – a nice bird for a nocturnal list. WA was the last western state where I still
needed this species, though I’ve seen it in 8 eastern states as a rarity.
It was now closing in on sunrise so I drove to the Rothrock
Rd. parking lot hotspot where Sagebrush Sparrow is quite regular. While I waited for the sky to brighten I got
this nice picture of the sun about to rise over the sagebrush.
I then positioned myself at the eastern edge of the parking lot and listened for my target Sparrow. I just had to wait a few seconds before I started to hear a Sagebrush Sparrow singing (WA statebird #5). And within a couple minutes I could hear 3 different birds singing from throughout the sea of sagebrush. Although I was able to add this species to my lists in all 3 states I covered on this trip, I still need it in 4 other western states.
Next I tried walking along the grassy shoulder just north of
the parking lot for Gray Partridge but this species continued to elude me.
I went back to the car to warm up a bit (temps were in the
low 40s – 50 degrees colder than yesterday’s high) thinking I had now seen all
my potential statebirds that I could in this habitat. But then I started to wonder why I needed
Sagebrush Sparrow in WA but not Sage Thrasher.
Since this was my first time birding in this habitat in WA I bet I
needed Sage Thrasher as well. Luckily I
had just enough cell reception to allow me to pull up my WA statelist on eBird
and sure enough I was missing Sage Thrasher.
Good thing I realized this before leaving. I quickly pulled up Phil’s e-mail and noticed
he suggested the swails around the intersection of Crooks and Franks Roads as a
possible spot for the Thrasher. I drove
over to Phil’s suggested spot and had no sooner gotten out of the car when I
could hear a Sage Thrasher in song (WA statebird #6). Once again luck was on my side to add this
species to my WA list. Here’s the lush
vegetation from which the Thrasher was singing.
It was now time to connect with Blair and the Denny’s who agreed to show me around for the morning in the Tri-Cities area. So I started my drive south out of the sagebrush and had only gone a couple miles when I noticed a sparrow perched on a bush near the road. I pulled to a stop and found it to be a White-crowned Sparrow, the only one of the trip. And then I heard another singing Sagebrush Sparrow. While I was trying to track down the Sparrow I heard some “chuck” calls behind me. I turned just in time to see a Chukar crossing the road behind me (WA statebird #7). That was a most unlikely spot for a Chukar with no exposed rocks in the area. Another lucky find, and the 5th state where I’ve seen this species.
Now I was truly leaving and set off to Hood Park in Walla Walla County to meet Blair and the Denny’s. We weren’t planning to bird there, but while waiting in the parking lot I spotted an Eastern Kingbird in the distance, the first of many (WA statebird #8). I’ve now seen this species in each state in its range except for NV.
Our first stop with the Denny’s was the Peninsula Unit of McNary NWR. Our key birding spot there was a small peninsula that afforded good views of the Columbia River. My key targets here were Terns, with Forster’s being the most likely and with outside chances for Common and Black. We were able to quickly find a small group of 7 Forster’s Terns perched together in the distance (WA statebird #9). WA was the last state in which I needed Forster’s Tern in its regular range across the US.
We were also able to pick up several Caspian Terns, but no other small terns. We stayed at this spot for about an hour, picking up 37 species including a rare male Common Goldeneye, before heading off to our next stop.
And that next spot was an eBird hotspot known as the Tyson
Blood Ponds. These “ponds” are at the
edge of a very large cattle feed lot, which apparently accept wastewaters
generated from slaughtering the cows. Although
the pond appeared to be solid, the gray material is actually fats floating on
the surface. Not surprisingly the area
was rather aromatic.
We didn’t stay here long, but were able to quickly pick up 2 Black-necked Stilts likely breeding here (WA statebird #10), along with an Avocet. Just one more state to go in the Stilt’s regular range, though I’ve seen it in 5 states in the northeast as a rarity.
Our next stop was the Port of Walulla with more views of the Columbia River. Here we picked out both Clark’s and Western Grebes, and more Caspian Terns, but found no new target birds.
Then we took a short drive south along the river to a steep
cliff face to look for White-throated Swifts.
Mike Denny mentioned to look for them flying in one of the gaps between
two parts of the cliff and sure enough there they were, flying among the
Violet-green Swallows. Although that wasn’t
a target bird for me in WA, I needed it for my OR list. Just a few days earlier I had an unsuccessful
search for White-throated Swifts on a very similar cliff south of Malheur NWR
in OR. Ironically the Swifts we were
looking at were only about a mile from the OR stateline. Statebirding is like that sometimes…
Next we were on to another hotspot in McNary NWR called
Millet and Woodland Ponds. The Denny’s had
a Wilson’s Phalarope there 2 days earlier, so I was hopeful we would be
successful with that target. We parked
in the small parking lot for the site and began to walk through some cottonwood
and riparian vegetation toward the ponds.
One of our first birds was a Common Nighthawk perched on a horizontal
branch – always a nice find. Then a
short distance ahead a small bird flew in to feed on some grasses just a short
distance away – it was a Lesser Goldfinch (WA statebird #11). WA was my last state in which to see this species
in its regular range.
When we arrived at the wetlands we all scoped from numerous angles but could not come up with a Phalarope. Perhaps it was feeding back in the brush out of view. Though we did find 6 species of dabblers and a couple more Stilts.
It was now lunchtime and we had pretty much covered all the
possible locations for my target statebirds in the Tri-Cities area. And it was time for the Denny’s to move on, so
I thanked them for all their help for our morning searches.
What to do next? I had
thought that the locations we birded that morning would take all day to cover,
so I had quite a bit of free time on my hands.
Blair mentioned that a Wilson’s Phalarope and a rare White-faced Ibis had
been recently seen at an eBird hotspot named Para Ponds. Plus Tricolored Blackbirds are possible
there. With a bit of eBird research I
found Para Ponds and reports of as many as 4 Phalaropes as recently as 2 days
earlier, and both the Ibis and Tricolored Blackbirds were last seen 3 days
earlier. It was only about an hour’s drive
to get there, and I had spare time and statebird potential, so I was off to
Para Ponds.
Para Ponds are located in a broad area of wetlands just
north of the little town of Othello in Adams County. Just after coming through the town the road descended
down a pretty considerable hill into the valley and the wetlands beyond. I parked on the shoulder at the edge of the
Ponds and started my search. On my first
scan I hoped for a large dark wader but just found a Great Blue and a couple
Great Egrets. Then a quick scan of the
mudflats just netted a Spotted Sandpiper and a few Killdeer. This was going to be difficult…
Over the next hour I viewed the ponds from as many different
angles as possible, but couldn’t come up with any of my targets. There were a few dabbling ducks in the ponds,
but considerably less waterfowl than in the previous checklists, so I wondered
if water levels had dropped enough that the Phalarope and Ibis were no longer
interested in this spot. I was getting
ready to leave when a Blackbird flew by just a few feet away. Even without binoculars I could see that it
had a bright white band on the shoulder and there was no red visible – it was a
male Tricolored Blackbird (WA statebird #12).
Later I found another make feeding along the water’s edge, and then came
upon a flock of 5 males on another bank, along with a flyby female. Here is a distant photo of several on the
shore.
I’ve now seen Tricolored Blackbird in each state in its regular range, including in isolated colonies in OR, NV, and now WA. That’s quite a nice range expansion for a species that was once thought to breed only in CA.
After looking at the Blackbirds I spent more time searching for my other targets but still came up empty. Little did I know that another birder would see a Phalarope there that evening. Ugh…
My last realistic statebird target of the day was Wild
Turkey. There were numerous eBird
reports of Turkeys throughout the Walla Walla area so I was cautiously
optimistic. But Turkeys can be difficult
to find since there aren’t often specific locations where they are very reliable. But the Denny’s mentioned that they are often
seen at the Whitman Mission National Historic Site near Walla Walla. That was right on my way back to Alan’s place
and reconnecting with David so it would make for an easy stop. I arrived at 4:30 and went into the visitors’
center to see if anyone had suggestions for finding Turkeys at the park. One of the park employees said that the
Turkeys are most often seen there at sunrise and sunset, and that she had seen
them most anywhere in the park. I took a
quick stroll around without seeing any Turkeys, so I headed out to get dinner
and come back later that evening. Unfortunately,
I still came up empty. Maybe I’ll be
luckier at dawn the next day.
Day 9 – June 1 – Biscuit Ridge Road
David and I had one key stop this day, and that was to bird
our way up Biscuit Ridge Road. We left
Alan’s place around sunrise and as we walked toward the car we could hear a
Wild Turkey gobbling (WA statebird #13).
That was easy – I shouldn’t have spent so much time looking for them the
previous day. I just need this species
in 5 more states across the country.
Fresh from finding one new gallinaceous bird for my
statelist, we reminded ourselves that Alan sometimes sees Gray Partridges on
his property. As we headed down the hill
through Alan’s property we paused briefly at the hedgerow where he often sees
them, then continued very slowly down the hill watching the grasses nearby. And just then we spotted the head of a Gray
Partridge sticking up above the grass (WA statebird #14). We continued to watch it walk slowly along
feeding on seeds at the top of the blades of grasses. And just a couple minutes later it walked
back into the grass and was once again out of view. Here’s the grassy field the Partridge was
walking through.
WA is only the 6th state where I’ve seen this elusive species.
And then as we left Alan’s property we heard a California Quail calling and saw a Pheasant on the road side – that gave us 4 gallinaceous species in less than 5 minutes! Then just a mile away we passed by this flock of Turkeys in a farm field. I really shouldn’t have stressed so much over this species!
After a short drive we reached the base of Biscuit Ridge Road where our two key targets were Veery and Green-tailed Towhee. We started our climb up through scattered houses often tucked into nice riparian habitat. We kept our ears open for Veerys but couldn’t make frequent stops among all the houses. Then a couple miles uphill there was a break in the houses with some nice riparian habitat nearby so we made this one of our first key stops. And sure enough we soon heard a couple singing Veerys (WA statebird #15). Nice to fill in the northwest portion of my statebird map for this thrush one might think of as an eastern species.
As we continued uphill we heard quite a number of singing flycatchers, most notably 3 different “Western” Flycatchers. Although the songs sounded the same to me, Merlin repeatedly ID’d 2 of them as Cordillerans, and 1 as a Pacific-slope. Many birders in the region don’t agree with the 1989 split of these species given the similarities between their songs and plumage, particularly in southeastern WA. Plus there is a proposal for the AOU to re-lump these 2 species later in 2023. As a result, I decided to enter all 3 as Pacific-Slope/Cordilleran Flycatchers in my eBird checklist.
We were some 9 or 10 miles up the road when we ran into a
couple of other birders heading upslope as well. They too were looking for Green-tailed Towhee,
in their case for their year lists, since this was just about the only spot to
find them in all of WA. They had seen the
Towhee here before, and knew their preferred habitat as isolated patches of
thick brush on grassy slopes high up on Biscuit Ridge. Luckily they let us join them on their
search, and we followed them for several miles while the road entered into nice
Ponderosa pine habitat. But our target
was the Towhee, so we passed by the pines and pulled over in a spot where the slope
below us to the southwest was grass-covered but had patches of thick
brush. At our first stop we had no
Towhees, but did find this mother bear and two cubs in the distance.
We drove a bit farther up the road and stopped at areas of similar habitat. And this time we had success, hearing at least 1 and maybe 2 singing Green-tailed Towhees singing below us (WA statebird #16). One was singing from the brush in the middle of this picture. And the scenery was nice as well!
We also had a MacGillivray’s Warbler that perched up nicely in the distance long enough to get this phonescoped photo.
On our way back down the ridge we birded the Ponderosa pine habitat and had species like Red Crossbill, Cassin’s Finch, and Red-breasted Nuthatch. Plus we were treated to more nice scenery of the valley below us to the west.
We left Biscuit Ridge Road about 11 AM and once again had spare time on our hands. So we decided to take a drive north to Harder Spring in Franklin County where a colony of Tricolored Blackbirds were breeding. This spot turned out to be an isolated oasis consisting of a wetlands covered in cattails and surrounded by riparian vegetation. As soon as we arrived we spotted numerous blackbirds flying between the wetlands and the desert. Upon closer look nearly all of these turned out to be Tricolored Blackbirds foraging out in the sagebrush desert to look for food to feed their young. I wondered how sustainable a colony of this size could be, not only since the parents had to fly so far to find food, but also to have to look for that food in the desert vegetation. Must be a tough existence. In any case, we got good views of both the females that were darker than female Red-wings, and the males with their white-trimmed shoulder patch that only occasionally showed any red plumage. We also ran into an Olive-sided Flycatcher perched in a tree at the oasis. A nice way to end our day and to end the WA portion of the trip.
Conclusion
The WA portion of our trip featured 112 species, most
importantly including 16 new statebirds, much better than the 12 I hoped
for. That brings my statelist to 283, now
35 over the old ABA reportable threshold of 248. With the official WA statelist at 522 as of
October 2022, the new threshold for half of the total would be 261. Looks like I’ll stay over the threshold of half
the statelist total for some time to come.
Here is a link to my eBird Trip Report for the WA portion of
our trip –
WA Portion of
2023 Trip - eBird Trip Report
Many thanks to Blair Bernson, Phil Bartley, and Mike and
MerryLynn Denny for all their help on so many of our searches. And thanks to Alan Peterson for allowing us
to stay at his home, not to mention creating habitat on his property for the
elusive Gray Partridge.
