This past Friday and Saturday Ken Brown and I decided it was safe enough to go to Eastern WA for a 2-day spring birding trip. We were hoping to see our first-of-the-year (FOY) birds of lots of species that are best found east of the Cascades.
We met at my condo at 6 AM Friday AM and headed east. Our route was generally to try for our sagebrush area species first off the old Vantage Hwy, then head south on Hwy 82 to stop at the Selah Canyon Rest Stop for the White-throated Swift, then come back to Wenas from the south with stops enroute.
Then after camping in a big field above the Wenas Audubon Campsite we would head east to bird the Moses Lake area Saturday before coming home.
At a sage area off the highway we saw the target sage species. Brewer’s Sparrows and Sage Thrashers were singing all over the place. Sagebrush Sparrows were tougher, I managed a brief look in a scope, Ken didn’t get a good enough look to feel confident listing them, but a single Loggerhead Shrike gave a distant scope view, and Vesper Sparrow was a FOY for Ken.

We drove back to the Kittitas Exit of I-90 and then south on Hwy 82 to the Selah Canyon Rest Stop and several White-throated Swifts were zipping around. Then on to the south road up to Wenas. On the way we expected to easily see Swainson’s Hawk, but didn’t see any. Our next major stop was at the Wenas Lake entrance. We are coming to really like birding there.

The riparian road past the boat launch tends to be very birdy, and we had a nice list of 32 species there, including FOY Dusky Flycatcher for Ken, Black-chinned Humminbird, and singing Yellow-breasted Chat.

Next a walk into Hardy Canyon gave nice looks and photos of Lark Sparrow, Lazuli Bunting, and lots of singing Chats.

We tried Malloy Road at Wenas for Gray Catbird and Least Flycatcher, with no luck. eBird bar charts show GRCA is just on the early edge of arriving. Then on the road into Wenas we looked for Lewis’s Woodpecker without success, and could not find a Calliope Hummingbird, which was one of few misses for the trip. In the campground we walked around, and got great looks at FOY Gray Flycatchers, Cassin’s Finch, and as well as Townsend’s Solitaire and a nice variety of birds.

We headed into the fields above the campground to set up camp and wait for dark. As we arrived I got a text from Marian, asking if I forgot my sleeping bag, as one was in the study on the floor. Sure enough, I went camping without my sleeping bag. Not to fear. Ken slept in the back of his SUV, as planned, and I slept in my tent wearing all of my clothes, some of Ken’s , and with a spare tent cover on top of me. Not cold, and really no more uncomfortable than usual for sleeping on the ground.
We crushed the night birds. At dusk Common Poorwills started to sing, and then Western Screech Owl and Flamulated Owls called for us relatively closely. I got to hear the WSOW for the first hour or so as I tried to get to sleep.
The next day Ken spotted our only Red-naped Sapsucker as we drove out of Wenas, I found a Lewis’s Woodpecker as we drove north on Umptatum Road and Mountain and Western Bluebirds were all over.

Day 2 focused on the desert birds around Moses Lake. We got a couple of Swainson’s Hawks on I-90 as we headed east. A stop just over the Vantage Bridge scoping the river gave many distant likely Western Grebes but none close enough to ID a Clark’s Grebe.
At County Lime Ponds we got great looks at American Avocet, Black-necked Stilt, Wilson’s Phalarope and Yellow-headed Blackbird were 4 FOY birds for both of us. We also parked right behind Bruce and Marian LaBar when we stopped there. I’ve never seen Marian laugh so hard as when I told them I had camped out at Wenas and forgot my sleeping bag.

Next at the Para Ponds we found the gate to the predictable Tricolored Blackbird viewing area was closed, and we were unable to find a the species, but Ken managed a FOY Long-billed Dowicher. On the drive through the Columbia NWR we got Rock Wren and a fly-by Prairie Falcon and as we neared the end of the dirt road I got a text from Matt Yawney that her had seen Ruddy Turnstone and Black Tern from the Moses Lake Dam Road pullout. We drove the couple of miles to there, and after the nearest grebe was a close-in Clarke’s Grebe (FOY) we recovered both species.

I spotted the Black Tern trying to land on a very distant rocky island near the big gull breeding island. It kept trying to land, and apparent breeding Forester’s Terns kept driving it away. There may have been two BLTE, but we could only see one at a time. Almost immediately after spotting that bird, I looked back at the nearby rocky islands where we had initially looked for the Ruddy Turnstone, and now one was standing on top of a rocky spot, relatively nearby. We got great looks, and some photos, before the RUTU flew out to more distant islands joining FOTE there.

We finished the trip checking Lind Coulee for night-herons without success, managed our FOY American White Pelican on the drive back across the Moses Lake Dam where none were seen on our primary stop there, and dipped one last time for Gray Catbird in Cle Elum at the Teanaway Bridge area at a stretch break driving home.

A great trip. 26 FOY species for me. A first time sleeping in a cold area without a sleeping bag and surviving easily. 130 species total for the trip, 80 on day 1, 95 on day 2. Ken and I both ended the trip with lots of FOY birds, and a chance to get out of our local birding area for the first time in far too long.
Here is a trip list from eBird.

Report Details
Date range: May 15, 2020 – May 21, 2020 Total # of Species: 130
Total # of Checklists: 22
Location(s): 18268–19364 Vantage Hwy, Ellensburg US-WA 46.99272, -120.28497; 99344, Othello US-WA 46.92063, -119.24066; County Line Ponds (Grant Co.); Hardy Canyon; I-90 E, Ellensburg US-WA 46.94396, -120.23826; Kittitas–Parke Creek Road; O’Sullivan Dam Road; Para/McCain’s Ponds; Potholes Reservoir–Lind Coulee; SR-26, Beverly US-WA 46.94054, -119.96036; Selah Canyon Rest Area; Teanaway River Bridge; Umptanum Road (Kittitas Co.); Wenas Area; Wenas Campground; Wenas Creek Riparian Area; Wenas Creek at Maloy Road; Wenas Lake; Wenas–Lower Dry Creek

Summary
May 15 May 16 May 17 May 18 May 19 May 20 May 21
Number of Species 80 95 — — — — —
Number of Individuals 619 2,722 — — — — —
Number of Checklists 10 12 — — — — —

Total Number of Birds (sample size)
Species Name May 15 May 16 May 17 May 18 May 19 May 20 May 21
Canada Goose 10
(3) 37
(3) — — — — —
Blue-winged Teal — 3
(1) — — — — —
Cinnamon Teal 1
(1) 17
(2) — — — — —
Northern Shoveler — 7
(1) — — — — —
Gadwall — 19
(4) — — — — —
American Wigeon — 10
(2) — — — — —
Mallard 21
(2) 31
(5) — — — — —
Redhead — 6
(1) — — — — —
Ring-necked Duck — 1
(1) — — — — —
Greater Scaup — 6
(1) — — — — —
Lesser Scaup — 2
(1) — — — — —
Bufflehead — 1
(1) — — — — —
Ruddy Duck — 6
(2) — — — — —
California Quail 7
(3) 4
(3) — — — — —
Ring-necked Pheasant — 1
(1) — — — — —
Ruffed Grouse 1
(1) — — — — — —
Western Grebe — 169
(3) — — — — —
Clark’s Grebe — 7
(2) — — — — —
Western/Clark’s Grebe — 10
(1) — — — — —
Rock Pigeon — 2
(1) — — — — —
Eurasian Collared-Dove 2
(1) — — — — — —
Mourning Dove 19
(7) 10
(2) — — — — —
Common Poorwill 4
(1) — — — — — —
White-throated Swift 6
(1) — — — — — —
Black-chinned Hummingbird 1
(1) 1
(1) — — — — —
hummingbird sp. — 2
(1) — — — — —
American Coot — 28
(3) — — — — —
Black-necked Stilt — 48
(3) — — — — —
American Avocet — 17
(2) — — — — —
Killdeer 2
(2) 6
(3) — — — — —
Ruddy Turnstone — 1
(1) — — — — —
Long-billed Dowitcher — 12
(2) — — — — —
Wilson’s Snipe — 1
(1) — — — — —
Wilson’s Phalarope — 22
(1) — — — — —
Spotted Sandpiper — 1
(1) — — — — —
Ring-billed Gull — 214
(4) — — — — —
California Gull — 100
(1) — — — — —
Larus sp. — 1,000
(1) — — — — —
Caspian Tern — 5
(2) — — — — —
Black Tern — 1
(1) — — — — —
Forster’s Tern — 43
(2) — — — — —
tern sp. — 1
(1) — — — — —
Common Loon — 1
(1) — — — — —
Double-crested Cormorant — 8
(3) — — — — —
American White Pelican — 1
(1) — — — — —
Great Blue Heron — 1
(1) — — — — —
Great Egret — 16
(3) — — — — —
Turkey Vulture 8
(3) — — — — — —
Osprey 1
(1) — — — — — —
Northern Harrier 1
(1) 1
(1) — — — — —
Cooper’s Hawk 2
(2) — — — — — —
Bald Eagle 2
(1) — — — — — —
Swainson’s Hawk — 1
(1) — — — — —
Red-tailed Hawk 10
(4) 5
(4) — — — — —
Flammulated Owl 1
(1) — — — — — —
Western Screech-Owl 1
(1) — — — — — —
Red-naped Sapsucker — 1
(1) — — — — —
Lewis’s Woodpecker — 2
(1) — — — — —
Downy Woodpecker — 1
(1) — — — — —
Hairy Woodpecker 2
(2) — — — — — —
Northern Flicker 4
(4) 2
(1) — — — — —
American Kestrel 4
(4) 2
(2) — — — — —
Peregrine Falcon 1
(1) — — — — — —
Prairie Falcon — 1
(1) — — — — —
Western Wood-Pewee 15
(5) 18
(4) — — — — —
Hammond’s Flycatcher — 4
(1) — — — — —
Gray Flycatcher 3
(2) — — — — — —
Dusky Flycatcher 1
(1) 1
(1) — — — — —
Say’s Phoebe 2
(2) — — — — — —
Western Kingbird 11
(5) 3
(1) — — — — —
Cassin’s Vireo 1
(1) — — — — — —
Warbling Vireo 5
(4) 2
(1) — — — — —
Loggerhead Shrike 1
(1) — — — — — —
Steller’s Jay 2
(1) 4
(2) — — — — —
Black-billed Magpie 4
(2) 6
(4) — — — — —
Common Raven 11
(5) 6
(4) — — — — —
Black-capped Chickadee 5
(3) — — — — — —
Mountain Chickadee 1
(1) — — — — — —
Horned Lark 3
(1) — — — — — —
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
(1) 33
(4) — — — — —
Tree Swallow 2
(2) — — — — — —
Violet-green Swallow 24
(4) 13
(3) — — — — —
Bank Swallow — 7
(1) — — — — —
Barn Swallow 9
(2) 43
(3) — — — — —
Cliff Swallow 13
(3) 150
(4) — — — — —
swallow sp. 15
(1) 242
(6) — — — — —
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
(1) — — — — — —
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
(1) 2
(1) — — — — —
Pygmy Nuthatch 4
(2) — — — — — —
Rock Wren — 4
(1) — — — — —
House Wren 14
(5) 4
(1) — — — — —
Marsh Wren — 22
(3) — — — — —
American Dipper — 5
(2) — — — — —
European Starling 43
(4) 42
(4) — — — — —
Sage Thrasher 8
(1) — — — — — —
Western Bluebird 2
(1) 8
(2) — — — — —
Mountain Bluebird — 2
(1) — — — — —
Townsend’s Solitaire 2
(1) 1
(1) — — — — —
American Robin 16
(6) 18
(5) — — — — —
House Sparrow 18
(3) — — — — — —
House Finch 10
(3) — — — — — —
Purple Finch 12
(2) — — — — — —
Cassin’s Finch 7
(2) 17
(2) — — — — —
American Goldfinch 12
(3) — — — — — —
Chipping Sparrow 16
(3) — — — — — —
Brewer’s Sparrow 16
(1) 4
(1) — — — — —
Lark Sparrow 2
(1) — — — — — —
Dark-eyed Junco 2
(1) — — — — — —
Golden-crowned Sparrow 2
(1) — — — — — —
Sagebrush Sparrow 1
(1) — — — — — —
Vesper Sparrow 2
(1) — — — — — —
Savannah Sparrow 5
(2) — — — — — —
Song Sparrow 3
(3) — — — — — —
Spotted Towhee 11
(5) 8
(3) — — — — —
Yellow-breasted Chat 2
(1) 1
(1) — — — — —
Yellow-headed Blackbird — 60
(3) — — — — —
Western Meadowlark 22
(3) 12
(3) — — — — —
Bullock’s Oriole 1
(1) 1
(1) — — — — —
Red-winged Blackbird 39
(3) 33
(4) — — — — —
Brown-headed Cowbird 22
(5) 16
(3) — — — — —
Brewer’s Blackbird 52
(4) 3
(2) — — — — —
Nashville Warbler 1
(1) 2
(1) — — — — —
MacGillivray’s Warbler — 1
(1) — — — — —
Common Yellowthroat — 1
(1) — — — — —
Yellow Warbler 5
(4) 17
(4) — — — — —
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
(2) 1
(1) — — — — —
Wilson’s Warbler 1
(1) 1
(1) — — — — —
Western Tanager 5
(3) 5
(2) — — — — —
Black-headed Grosbeak 9
(5) 3
(2) — — — — —
Lazuli Bunting 7
(2) 1
(1) — — — — —