September 10th - Twice Bitten, One Shy

Getting out of Dayton

I woke up in the Blue Mountain Motel, well rested. I had made some progress in both Columbia and Walla Walla Counties the day before, moving my year list total in Columbia to 157, and my Walla Walla year list to 141. My first goal for the year - a bottom line - was to get Columbia to 150. Check! Next, was to get Walla Walla to 150 for the year. Ch... almost. Incidentally, I was closing in on another goal as well - getting my Walla Walla life list to 175! It had been taken from 161 to 168 over the last two days, so I was a little unsure about my hopes. Some of them rested on returning to places I'd already visited and like... just doing a better job looking for birds. It's an ongoing goal - get better at this whole business constantly. I'm gentle with myself (and others!), but I continue to push. 

Wifi at the Blue Mountain Inn was incredibly slow. I was transported back to the days when the Internet was *usually* slow (and when you couldn't use it if someone was making a phone call... oh the days...). I checked out and went to Locally Nourished for some food and connection speed. 

Lord, what a good breakfast. I got a scrambled breakfast bowl. All the good stuff tossed around together. You know the stuff. And I worked on a plan, although I felt some disappointment that I had not yet gotten out the door. But knocking ten birds off of your needs list changes the map. In the end, I figured Bennington Lake was my best bet. There had been some migrants coming through, and a couple other odds and ends. 

On the way out of town, I kept my eyes on treetops. A Merlin would be a nice find, and there's one or two of them that frequent Dayton. I may, in fact, just spend a whole day walking Dayton at some point if I have to! No Merlins appeared.

Bennington Lake

Just a heads up. If you've walked some lakes before, and you enjoy the whole process of walking in a circle, having some clear sense of progress. . . this ain't your lake. It's the weirdest kind of lollipop, taking you around the lake, then doooown the stem, and baaaack up the stem of the lollipop - a detour that takes you along a seasonal creek that feeds the lake, and eventually takes you over it before sending you back. 

When I parked, I was greeted by my first new bird of the year - Vaux's Swifts! (142 for my Walla Walla year). I had also read that a Pine Siskin had been seen mixed in with a flock of goldfinches. Yes, and yes! (143) I was surprised to find it still hanging about, but what do I know about Pine Siskins?

Yellow-rumped Warbler

It was a warm mid-morning - just warm enough, and just mid-morning enough for a little bit of bug activity. I almost always cleared them off of me before they could bite, but I did come away from the morning with a pair of bites on my leg, from who knows what. I passed a guy fishing from the lake - he'd caught a sunfish, a catfish, and a bluegill. I have to admit, I'm disappointed at all of the life below the surface of the water that I just never see!

Killdeer chased up from the lakeshore

I rounded the south end of the lake, clearing the rocky landscape and entering a bit of trees. I saw reports of birds like Warbling Vireo - a bird that I'm always FAR too happy to hear without seeing, and a few species of flycatchers, none of which would be doing much vocally. I was admittedly a bit fearful that I'd come out of the morning with missed birds! My first flycatcher of the day, however, was pretty cooperative. 

Dusky Flycatcher (144)

The posture made it easy to see the short wings - in my head looking like a kiddo that has grown out of his coat too fast! It stayed well in view, silent the whole time. The next flycatcher I found was a Gray (145!). This one sat out in the wide open for me on a treetop, wagging its tail downward. And I got some nice sharp pictures of the tree about 20 feet in front of it. lol. Some day. Someday I'll learn to camera better! Today was not the day. 

Lots of sparrows - White-crowned, Savannah, and Song. I really hoped I might find more, but I was still pretty happy with the flycatcher situation. As I was picking through a pile of sparrows, I saw a bird in flight: 

California Scrub-Jay (146)

This was a really fun find. They're becoming more common in SE Washington, but not so common that this wasn't a big addition to my list. In fall, they do tend to disperse, so it was not unexpected to find them in an unexpected place, if that makes any sense. 

Northern Pintails

Then I was off on a long, long walk up and around the north end of the lake. I really thought I was lost, but a sign clarified where I was - on the aforementioned north end of the "stem" of this lollipop hike. Nothing new showed up for me on this end of the hike, although some stands of treess gave me a Downy Woodpecker and a few Black-capped Chickadees.

Five new birds! This was a great stop. I'm glad that I got back to one of the places in Walla Walla that had given me so many of my first birds for the county many years ago. A number of these were new for my life list as well, which was now at 172 species. 

I didn't find any dippers here (although I just now gave a rock a closer look!)
But I passed a birder at Bennington who said he had seen dippers in "the creek" 
This looks like a good place for them!

Iowa-Dodd-Tyson-Blood-What-Ponds-am-I-at?

So, I did find out *after* returning from my trip that many of the shorebirds that had been seen were at the Blood Ponds, which are north of Dodd Road. But folks, I peeked at the spots north of the road, and to me they all seemed a bit elevated. I never got to a point where I was looking down at a pond. I did get to the Tyson Ponds, up the dirt road I've driven a few times now. Unlike a few days earlier, I drove far enough to reach the larger pond. It was pretty distant, but I could still pick out some of the shorebirds roosting on the shore through the woobly turbulent air - including a Pectoral Sandpiper (147) and a light-colored Sanderling (148) standing out like a sore thumb. 

I'd like to believe that everyone in life deserves good things. 
But there are times where I drive... farther than you might believe, with 
binoculars on top of my car... and I being to deeply question 
whether or not I really do deserve good things. :D

I had not yet gone through my pictures or my lists - I didn't know where things stood exactly when the Gray Partridge (149) when dashing across the road in front of me. But it left me one shy of 150 for the year! Better yet, it was the 175th species I've seen in Walla Walla County. Good bird indeed. 

Granger gas station dinosaurs - on the way home