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| Gray Catbird - one of many seen at Rainbow Lake |
The expression "in the catbird seat" is used to describe a person in an enviable position. With a bottom-line goal of 150 species for the year in Columbia County, 151 was a nice total indeed. The long-term goal is to hit that number during a year list for every county in the state. I just realized that Columbia, being the 19th county where I had reached this mark, put me over halfway to 39. And then, as I was uttering some celebratory sentence, math kicked in and I realized that this is certainly NOT over half of 39, but just under. I'm still happy with the progress, and. . . clearly. . . I have some work to do in Walla Walla County now (where I went into this day with 118 species, and no planned stops in Walla Walla).
One target for the day was Common Nighthawk. It's an easy enough bird, just so long as you're out and about at the correct dark hour.
I had gotten to bed early and was ready to leave pretty early in the morning. I gassed up at the Chevron in town. As the pump ran, I saw that the store itself would open at 4:30, in just 15 minutes. It was a little lost time, but a small cost to head out prepared for the day. At 4:25, I saw a car pull up and somehow imagined that this was the person working this morning. But then at 4:30, lights came on inside, and the door opened for us. Even when I walked in, I figured that I might need to wait for coffee to brew. Nope! Coffee was up and ready, and the food shelves were already full of warm food ready to go.
"How early did you get here to get all of this ready??" I asked the gal behind the counter. "Ohh... 2 or 2:30". "And when do you get off for the day?" "Well, I have help coming in at 10, but I'm here until 3, so 12 hours." I noted her understatement of the time. "And how many days a week?" "Six. I take Sundays off." So, she was essentially working a double work week. I have made a mental note to support this woman (who was *despite* all of this, extremely pleasant at this hour of the morning.
Rainbow Lake
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| I believe this was at the start of Hartsock Grade Road - almost sunrise |
Windows cracked, I drove Patit Road out of town. This road runs nearly due east towards Tucannon Road. As it approaches the road, there's an elevation drop and a commensurate little "switchback" of sorts to get down to it (on Hartsock Grade Road). Birds were waking up, and I was able to pick up two dozen species just listening. None of these happened to be a Common Nighthawk!
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| The Tucannon River |
I dropped down onto Tucannon Road and eyed all wires for an Eastern Kingbird. Eventually, I did find one (152 for the year list!), but down near ground level, flycatching at some bugs on the road. I pulled up and stopped the car, looking for where it had flown to, before I heard it calling from the far side of the field, completely out of sight. Spoilers - this was the only Eastern Kingbird I have seen all year! This code 1 bird has been a bit of a challenge.
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| Red-winged Blackbird - Rainbow Lake |
I arrived at Rainbow Lake and got the windows down. Red-eyed Vireo, and perhaps Common Nighthawk were the target birds. The vireo had been heard near the entrance to the park, in cottonwoods, so I gave these a good stop-and-listen. While I didn't find my target, there was a Western Flycatcher calling in this area - a bird that hasn't been all that easy in the county.
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| Red-eyed Vireo habitat |
I figured the bird needed time to wake up or time to travel from somewhere else to here. I crossed the bridge, and my attention was immediately drawn to the field next to me.
I may have seen a single skunk, alive and walking about, in my life. That said, this was more than a fleeting glimpse. I got to watch this striped skunk loping across the grass, stopping and investigating the ground occasionally, then dashing out of sight across the road. Fun!
I continued from here to Rainbow Lake. I figured it would be a birdy morning and perhaps would hold a surprise for me. Almost immediately, I was surprised, not by the presence of Gray Catbirds, but by the sheer number of them out in plain view. It feels like 90 percent of my experiences with Gray Catbirds involve me peering into a bush, while they stay deep in cover, calling away. Today, they were out on the road, hopping around onto perches in sight, and even watching me curiously as I walked.
Veeries and Willow Flycatchers were two of the most common birds heard during the morning. Spotted Sandpipers, code 4 birds, were heard and seen on the lake shore. I believe this was the third place I'd found them during breeding season. EBird has sightings of them about as frequently as Eastern Kingbirds, a code 1 bird.
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| Spotted Sandpiper |
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| Cedar Waxwing |
eBird Checklist - 2 Jul 2025 - Rainbow Lake - 35 species
What a fun, simple morning of birding! Walking the whole loop was nice, and I had the lake nearly to myself. One couple arrived mid-walk to do some fishing (and there were certainly fish jumping). But there were no Red-eyed Vireos, and no other new birds for the year. I checked again as I left, and they were not found at the entrance either. So, my plan now was to do a slow drive up Tucannon Road, listening with windows down. This plan paid off, and I was able to hear a Red-eyed Vireo (153) giving its version of the preacher bird song. Clearer and more rapid than a Cassin's Vireo.
Curl Lake was not much farther. I had a great time here, watching Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Violet Green Swallows, and Vaux's Swifts dancing over (and sometimes on) the water. I also got an Osprey flying overhead.
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| Northern Rough-winged Swallows |
Panjab Campground to Meadow Creek Trailhead
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| Flycatcher - cannot remember which I had here! |
There had been a recent sighting of Black-backed Woodpecker in this area - near Panjab Campground. I was enjoying a surfeit of birds for the trip, and it was still quite early, so I drove up to Panjab.
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| Yellow-rumped Warber, checking its shoes for toilet paper |
I could see why Black-backeds might be seen around here! There were plenty of snags, many with charred bark - the kind that they like to flake off to expose bugs underneath. I got out of the car, sunscreened, and started walking along the road with my scope, ready to investigate any flight, calls, or drums.
I was really enjoying this, and I had dreams of eventually finding a woodpecker. But I looked back at my car. . .and saw a bear and cub crossing the road close to my car, about 50 yards back. I just missed getting a picture, but even more than a picture, I wanted to get back to my car. I waited for what seemed like an appropriate amount of time and started walking back.
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| The trees that the bears walked behind |
A dark form emerged from the side of the road.
There are, please understand, hikes ahead of me in Columbia County. While my focus for now was deeper exploration of the roads, I really do want to get offroad! But my only cougar encounter in life occurred about three miles east of where I was standing, back in July of 2014. Having my first out-of-car bear encounter here. . . I'll just make sure that I have my bear spray on hand. Fun fact, there are also wolves in the Blue Mountains. Yay?
The road dead-ended at the Meadow Creek Trailhead. Here, I scanned the trees once more and found at least one woodpecker - a Lewis'. This felt like the best I was going to get from the morning. I was content leaving more woodpeckering for the fall. I returned down Tucannon Road, with dreams of Lark Sparrows and Swainson's Hawks.
Majorie Road
Before I found a Chukar back in March on the Snake River, I had done some searching and found that this species had been sighted on Majorie Road. I thought it worth a try, with outside shots at my other two target species. Nearing the intersection, I got caught in traffic. Cows moving from pasture to pasture, with several members of a family helping in the transport.
I was paused for a bit and chatted with the woman primarily managing the herd. I asked her about the barn on the property, and if it had a Barn Owl. Apparently, it does in some seasons, but the bird had not been seen during summer months. Students from WSU apparently have been out before to collect owl pellets from the barn. I asked if it would be fine to come out later in the year, knock on a door, and see about peeking in the barn, and I got an affirmative. Gosh I hope they remember me!
Up the road, I could see that this road could be very seasonal. It's very windy and steep. Snow or mud could turn it into a dangerous drive. It was not at all dangerous today. I climbed, stopped, took pictures. Drove further up, and repeated. It was pretty quiet! I got to the top, and I assumed that I was in Garfield County. My map disagreed! For the stretches of road right around me, I was squarely placed in Columbia still.
I got excited upon seeing sparrow sized birds with strong facial markings on the fence wires, but all of them turned out to be Horned Larks. It made sense here on the border of an enormous wheat field. I watched them and enjoyed the light breeze on the warm morning. It was quiet, comfortable, and beautiful as far as the eye could see.
Driving back down to Tucannon Road, I stopped once more for pictures of the road from above. At this point, I heard a Lark Sparrow (154) singing from the farm across the road. Yet. Another. Heard-only bird. I took it, and I was happy with it. I wasn't happy with the trend!
Not far down Tucannon Road from here, I stopped when I saw two hawks circling above the road. Upon inspection, the birds involved in this little spitting match were a Red-tailed Hawk and a Swainson's Hawk (155). I was enjoying great looks at the bird and also got to hear the slightly weak (compared to a Red-tail) call.
"Don't you want to get your camera?"
"Nope, Swainy, I have plenty of time. Just going to watch you circle for a bit more."
"Oh for sure, no need to rush. I was just curi..." I ran for my camera while the bird was, in my head, mid-sentence. By the time I got back, it was nearly on a nearby ridge. I snapped a picture of a brown blob landing in the tall grass on the ridge.
I took it.
Homeward
I stopped twice more in Columbia, seeing that the time was nearing noon. The first stop was in Starbuck, where I finally caught the store with their kitchen open. I got a burger and fries - very nice. The folks in the store talked about the upcoming 4th of July weekend, and if the store had enough ice. On the way out, as I was paying, I asked if they sold mugs with "Starbuck" on them. The guy at the counter chuckled and said that a gal had offered to make some - he just hadn't heard from her since.
My second stop was at the KOA. I just walked out to the water to see if any terns were out on the river. The only possibilities, squarely in Franklin County, were perched on some structures on the far side of the river and showed no signs of moving. I brought only my binoculars, so I didn't get any identification on these mis-countied birds. Northern Rough-winged Swallows flew in and out of the bank nearby.
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| Signs telling the clouds what to do |
From here it was a dash home, starting on Lyons Ferry Road (a mistake, my GPS believed), until it hit Highway 124. I stopped a few times to shoot some grain silos/elevators. (I realize that I don't know the distinction). I did add one more bird for Walla Walla County on the way through, catching a Turkey Vulture in flight over the freeway to give me 119 for the year.
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