January 8th - First trip wrap up

Smith Hollow Road

And why wouldn't there be a Long-eared Owl tucked in here somewhere?

I woke up at the Best Western in Dayton, with 58 birds under my belt in Columbia County. This felt like a great start towards the end goal of 150, especially with some of the higher-coded birds I'd come across. I grabbed a hearty breakfast, and pretty swiftly, at that. For better or worse, growing up with 6 siblings may have honed my ability to eat quickly. I didn't check out, figuring that I'd do a little bit of birding before returning to the hotel in advance of the 11:00 check out. 

Smith Hollow Road had grabbed my attention on the previous evening. I saw what looked like nest holes along the hollow, and assumed it could be Long-eared, Short-eared, or Barn Owls using the rich surrounding habitat. There were also numerous spots with stands of trees that seemed like they'd provide good roosts for some of those species. 

So, I struck out, probably right around Barn Owl o'clock, scanning the hillsides for owls patrolling the fields. I got no visuals on any but made sure to stop and listen now and then. In cases where I'd come across bigger stands of trees, I tried calling for Long-eared Owls. 

Eastern Fox Squirrel

It was in Eastern Washington, maybe Douglas County (?) many years ago when I had a funny Long-eared Owl "encounter". Calling for a Long-eared in a canyon, I got responses with every call. Each call matched my pitch perfectly, for reasons that would make sense once I yelled the word "echo!" So here, when I gave a single long whooo, and got a response, I was immediately suspicious. It actually was encouraging when I tried again and got no response. On a third call, the Long-eared Owl (59) called back again, casually correcting me on my pitch. My third owl species for the year - not a bad start!

261

Returning up 261, I found a couple opportunities to stop and take some pictures. One target during the year is going to be grain elevators. I was struck by how they seem to be the largest structures in most areas (until we start considering wind turbines!), and I'd love to collect some scenic pictures of them over the course of the year. At one of these, I picked up my 60th species for the year - Rock Pigeon. 

As I made these stops along 261, I also got a spontaneous call from a Long-eared Owl a little after sunrise. This was a fun surprise! Going into a year like this, I research different species as much as I can, but Long-eared Owl sightings are hidden on eBird, in an effort to protect them. So, research could be done, but not any that could give me the certainty and/or recency of eBird observations. I expected Long-eared Owls were thriving in the county, and the observations this morning tracked with that thought. 

Nest hole? 

Turner Road

Rather than return right to Dayton, I drove Turner Road east for a bit. I had hopes for a few different birds, including one that I found, House Sparrow (61), with a number of them calling away from behind a fence. Other ideas included Rough-legged Hawk and Prairie Falcon. Gray Partridge, or some crazier finds like Lapland Longspur were also on my mind. But it was a pretty quiet morning. I drove Turner until it started to look a little snowier. I pulled off and enjoyed a lot of quiet, broken only by the occasional croak of a raven or by eruptions of gobbles from huge and distant rafters of turkeys. 

Dayton

Crow! (62)

American Crows are in Dayton. They're not particularly hard, but they're not particularly easy to find either. Neighboring Garfield County is the least populated county in the state, and the only one where I've never found an American Crow. So having this one off of my list was a silly bit of relief. 

Chris - the local birder I'd been in touch with, had plans to head up into the Blues a little bit, given the clear roads and good weather. I considered this, but in the end figured that Dayton could get my attention for the morning. 

He's a lil obscured, but the Cackling Goose is at far left, tucked in between some Canadas

My first stop in town (after getting checked out) was Pittman Pond - a nice bit of water visible from the end of Pittman Road. Chris had found a Cackling Goose (63) here, and I was able to find it pretty quickly in the flock of geese on the pond. There were dozens of American Wigeon, and I spent a good bit of time scanning through them for a Eurasian Wigeon, to no avail. It was still just nice to even have the opportunity to do this! Waterfowl in the county will be tough to find in general, so I was encouraged by this little spot. 

A Say's Phoebe (64) was another nice surprise, flycatching from stoops at the near end of the pond. 

Throughout the morning, I religiously scanned all trees. Merlins are falcons that can be found in the county, but not easily! One or two of them frequent the town of Dayton and can be found perching on treetops. If I pass the right tree, I just need to make sure that I'm looking!

My next stop was Pietrzycki Park, and the trail that follows the Touchet River. I found a Townsend's Solitaire (65) almost immediately. 

The river seemed like it would be great for American Dipper, the steep hills possibly good for Prairie Falcon, and the trees in town of course for Merlin. I walked the trail for a half-mile or more, stopped once by a couple who was happy to talk birds with me, and later by a man asking, "Did you see the moose?" (one has apparently been seen around town, off and on for a bit).

California Quail danced around the trail as I made my way back to the car. Noon was my target for leaving town. I still had a little time, so I figured I'd follow up on a recommendation for a cafe in town - Locally Nourished. 

What a cool stop. As noted in some reviews, it's not immediately obvious as you walk in that you're walking into a restaurant of any kind. Gift shop is the first impression, and a close look at the wares reveals a heavy tendency towards local merchants and makers. I loved this. Go here. Buy things. 

I went with soup and sandwich for lunch. I got a BLT, my go-to sandwich on the road. I should have started a BLT blog long ago, but hey. . . we all make mistakes. This particular one was fine. It really did taste good. I'm just, at the end of the day, transfixed by the primordial blt - simple sandwich bread toasted, iceberg lettuce, cool tomato, and warm bacon, little bit o' mayo. This BLT from Locally Nourished has been gussied up a bit to distance it from your grandma's kitchen. I get it. 

The soup was pozole. Gods, even now, saying pozole brought the experience (my first-ever bowl of pozole, somehow) right back to my mouth-memory. It was one of the loveliest bowls of soup I've had in life.

After lunch, I tried a couple side roads, exploring more of the tempting green patches I'd seen on Google Maps. Nothing really panned out. I really had high hopes for this stretch of Bowman Hill Road: 

The lower part had a pull off, but before it got into the thick of these trees. The upper part had more trees, but quite a bit back from the road. So, no birds were found here. I suppose any self-respecting bird would likely just continue down the hill and hit Lewis and Clark State Park! Worth a shot anyway, and I don't at all regret the views. 

From Bowman Hill Road

Farther up Bowman Hill

Heading back through Walla Walla County, I made a stop to get some pictures in Waitsburg. 

Lots to do!

And along the highway through Walla Walla, I did stir a flock up from the road that included Horned Larks (53 for my Walla Walla year), and a chunky Western Meadowlark (54). From there - not a single stop until I pulled into my driveway in Renton. What a great start to the year!