It seemed appropriate that the day after talking with Paul Bannick for The Bird Banter Podcast #82 Marian and I got a chance to see the Snowy Owl that has been roosting on rooftops in a Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle for a week or so. It brought to mind the studies done a few years ago about the Snowy Owls in the big invasion year, and how they often hunt sea ducks at night. Maybe this owl is hunting ducks on the nearby Green Lake at night, probably easy picking, and doing just fine in this urban setting.
Snowy Owls are such an iconic bird, and I am looking forward to seeing and reading Paul Bannick’s new book on the life history of Snowy Owls as well as the book on Great Gray Owls. I saw my WA first Great Gray Owl this year when Mike Denny took Ken Brown and me to a site to find them and we sat and recorded The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #63 with Mike Denny sitting on the side of a logging road as recently fledged Great Gray Owls walked on branched very nearby.
On this episode Paul talks about his conservation work for Conservation Northwest, about the wildlife corridors they are working to create, and about newly reintroduced species like Gray Wolves, Wolverine and Fisher. I feel like I better understand the I-90 wildlife bridges that we see on our trips to E WA.
I’ve had other photographers on the podcast in the past, including Dorian Anderson, Nate Chappell and most recently with Idaho birder and photographer Darren Clark.
Please leave comments and give me feedback about this episode, the podcast in general, or if you have thoughts por suggestions for guests you’d like to hear from.
Until next time: Good birding and good day!
Mike Denny
Mike Denny is my guest on The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #63, and what fun we had doing the recording. I called Mike a week or so ahead of a hoped for trip to the Walla Walla area in hopes of seeing my first Washington State Great Gray Owl. I had seen this species in Oregon, on a trip coordinated by Ken Brown for our ABC Birding Club, when a local biologist took us to a known nest box. That was very exciting, as an lifer and we got to see both adults and young birds. Mike offered to take Ken and me to a known nesting area in WA, and though the birds had fledged a week or so earlier, he expected that we would be able to find them in the area. Gray Catbird
After a nice early morning of birding the lower elevations of Walla Walla County, and adding Veery to our WA year list, we headed up Jasper Mountain. Along the way Mike held told storiesAdult Ferruginous Hawk in a tree right beside the road. Photo taken through open drivers window from passenger seat. of the Jasper Mountain Land Trust and how important they, and land trusts in general are to habitat preservation, as well as lots of cool info on the birds, butterflies, salamanders, snakes etc of the area.
After getting to the area of the nesting spot, Mike showed us the unusual nest site, a large escavated Pileated Woodpecker working, and we started to look for branching owlets. Mike pointed out scree by the road. He showed us how adult scree is all urea, like most birds, but that the scree of young owls can contain undigested hair and other material. We also saw wolf dung, like large dog poop but containing lots of hair from the deer or elk that they take as prey. Wolf Dung. Note the hair from prey .
Shortly Ken spotted two owlets on a branch of a tree maybe 75 meters away. We looked at them, and then moved to a place with a clearer view. Mike suggested that we sit and watch, and wait for the parents to come feed them. I thought this was a perfect time to talk, and record the podcast, so Mike, Ken and I sat on a roadside bank, watched the owlets, and recorded this episode. I used an omnidirectional speaker, so listen carefully and hear both the owlets begging, the adult GGOW answering, and lots of other birds in the area. Two of the 3 Great Gray Owl branching young birds that we watched for an hour or so.
Here is a link to The Secret Life of the Forest: The Northern Blue Mountains.
Here is the web site of the Blue Mountain Land Trust, the group that has helped preserve the land around a top birding area we visited, Coppei Creek https://bmlt.org/
Here is the snake that Mike spotted in the road on the way down from Bethyl Ridge Road. A species of snake, a “Racer” of some variety, that Mike managed to get to move from the middle of the road to directly underneath his vehicle.
And here is Mike looking for the snake in his engine compartment, after he tried to shoo it away to safety, and instead it hid under his car, then disappeared. Mike searching for the snake in his engine compartment.
Overall a great day of birding, ending with this fabulous sunset. Sunset over Rattlesnake Mountain.
Until next time, good birding and good day!
Female Bullock’s Oriole on Bateman Island, Day 1.
South Eastern Washington is the part of our state that I have visited the least. Most of western Washington is just a long day trip or an easy overnight trip. Ken led class trips to the North East and north central areas regularly, and most of the Columbia Basin in central WA is both accessible in a day or two, or on the way to other areas, so I feel like I’ve been to most of the top birding areas in other parts of WA. To get to the Southeast of the state is a long drive, and for some reason is not an area I’ve birded much.
This past weekend Ken Brown and I decided it was time to break with our pattern of staying near home during the pandemic, and headed to Walla Walla county, with the bird that has eluded me in the state despite lots of attempts in the Okanogan area, Great Gray Owl as the big prize. We had the advantage of arranging to meet Mike Denny, part of one of the top birding couples, WA and the person to show us birds in Walla Walla county. American Avocet at the Millet Ponds, Day 1
On the trip over Ken and I stopped at Bateman Island in Benton County, the Blood Tyson Ponds, and at the Millet Ponds after a detour to try for and not see the Least Tern seen the day prior from the 520 bridge in Seattle. Top birds for the trip over were Gray Catbird (FOY for both of us) along with lots of singing Yellow-breasted Chats at Bateman Island, nesting Barn Owls just past the Blood Ponds, and Eastern Kingbird, several Black-crowned Night Herons and lots of mosquitos at the Millet Ponds. Gray Catbird Bateman Island, Day 1
Another first for us in the pandemic time was a hotel in Walla Walla. The experience was quite good, with easy “no-touch” check-in, a clean room, and we felt pretty safe with the experience. Mike Denny
The highlight of the trip, by far, was the day with Mike Denny. He met us at the hotel at 7:30 AM, leaving us thinking it might be a low-key day, not getting up too early. We birded Coppei Creek, with lots of Gray Catbirds, chats, and singing Veery. It was a great start to the day, and Mike told us the story of the conservation of that area, just the first of many incredibly educational and interesting stories of the area we enjoyed throughout the day. A species of snake, a “Racer” of some variety, that Mike managed to get to move from the middle of the road to directly underneath his vehicle.
Next was up Jasper Mountain Road, with several stops looking for Green Towhee, a stop looking for Great Gray Owls, and generally good birding. After a while we came to an area Mike knows for its nesting Great Gray Owls. The young have fledged already, and Ken and I ware concerned we might not find them nearby. Mike remained confident, and after a bit of walking, Mike giving us lessons about owl scree (the young incompletely digest their swallowed-whole prey, so the scree has prey parts in the urea, whereas the adults scree is all white urea) Ken spotted two owlets tucked into a branch maybe 75 meters into the drainage area beside the road. After photos, a minor victory dance for this first WA sighting for me, Mike suggested we circle around for a better look. Two of the 3 Great Gray Owl branching young birds that we watched for an hour or so.
We walked back to a side road, got close enough for great looks, but far enough not to crowd the birds, and Mike suggested we just sit and wait for the adult to return. This gave me the idea that this was a perfect time to record the Bird Banter Podcast episode Mike and I hoped to take time out of the day of birding to get done. I got the recorder, and we sat, talked about Walla Walla County birding, GGOWs, and told other stories. It was a blast, and the owls performed nicely to keep us entertained. One of the owlets with a vole one of the adults delivered so quickly I missed the photo op.
From there we walked the few steps to Columbia County along another road where Ken and I added lots of summer species to our county list. We moved on to Bisquit Ridge, where we finally found a Green-tailed Towhee, along with lots of butterflies and a Green Racer snake that was sunning in the road. We all got good laughs as Mike while trying to shoo it out of the road got the snake to hide under his vehicle. Then while Mike got down to try to get it out it just disappeared. Mike thought it might have climbed up into the engine compartment, and we all looked everywhere for the snake, but it somehow eluded us and hopefully just raced into the shrubs. Mike searching for the snake in his engine compartment.
Ken and I were ecstatic, and thought the day must be wrapping up, as it was about 5 PM. We drove down the road, and near the end Mike asked us if we wanted to get dinner in town before trying for Ferruginous Hawk in the desert on the other side of the county. I learned that Mike is a fellow vegan, and we settled on Impossible Burgers at Burger King. Probable first spring Ferruginous Hawk
We spent the rest of the daylight seeing an incredible 13 individual Ferruginous Hawks on at least 3 nests, with at least 6 young on nests. This was by far the most FEHA either Ken or I had ever seen in a day. The entire state population of FEHA may be as low as maybe 40 individual birds, as we are on the far northwest part of their range, and their habitat here has been severely degraded by loss of desert areas to agriculture, and the extirpation of Jackrabbits from the area, one of their historical top prey species.
Mike told us about aspects of FEHA that more resemble eagles than other buteos. They have huge powerful talons, and massive bills like eagles. Check out these photos. Adult Ferruginous Hawk in a tree right beside the road. Photo taken through open drivers window from passenger seat. Ferruginous Hawk landing gear up. Three Ferruginous Hawk young on the nest.
We finished the day chatting and watching a fabulous sunset over Rattlesnake Mountain, before parting ways as Ken and I headed for sleep at a hotel in Umatilla. Mt Hood from the Balsh Cemetery.
Thursday we decided to come home along the Columbia, with stops for Ash-throated Flycatcher (successful FOY for both of us) and Acorn Woodpecker (no luck) and White-breasted Nuthatch (no luck) near Balsh Road in Klickitat County. Ash-throated Flycatcher fat the cemetery.
A couple of last stops in Skamania County padded our lists for that county, and led to a comical run-in with a red-neck local who puffed all up and tried to look intimidating as he thought with short pants we looked like the Portland protesters, and asked if we were “queer.” He said he hated birds, wanted to shoot or poison all the birds because they spread blackberry seeds everywhere. It was quite a show to end the trip. More work to do on Butterfly ID for sure. This from the Balsh Rd area.
Home safely with 11 FOY species for me and I think 12 for Ken. Much thanks to Mike Denny. Be sure to watch for the podcast episode to be published soon.
