Pearrygin Lake Bird Walk

Yesterday's Methow Valley Bird Walk went to Pearrygin Lake State Park. Seven of us quite lucked on the weather with a sunny calm morning. The water was perfectly smooth as we walked from the main campground south to the group camp area along an old road that gives views into the brush and trees below it and the lake beyond. Highlights included a calling Virginia Rail and some people saw an Osprey catch a fish while we all got to see it and another Osprey practice evasive manuevers when a Bald Eagle arrived to try to steal it. There was also a pretty good variety of waterfowl although they stayed quite a ways away and we wished we had a scope with us.

Observed species:

American Wigeon

Mallard

Northern Shoveler

Northern Pintail

Ring-necked Duck

Unknown Scaup

Common Goldeneye

Common Loon

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Red-tailed Hawk

Virginia Rail

American Coot

Red-naped Sapsucker

Northern Flicker

Say's Phoebe

Black-billed Magpie

American Crow

Common Raven

Tree Swallow

Violet-green Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Robin

European Starling

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Red-winged Blackbird

American Goldfinch

Total number of species seen: 34

Next scheduled Bird Walk is May 9th.

Pearrygin Lake Bird Walk

Nine of us met at the MVSTA parking lot yesterday and car pooled up to Pearrygin State Park. At the parking lot I saw two Pygmy Nuthatches in the pines overlooking the ice rink and a Turkey Vulture roosting across the river. It was comfortably cool but by the time we were were walking at the park, the sun had warmed considerably. Summer is finally, really here. We went into the park at the south entrance and walked toward the south end of the lake which is less developed, having only one group camping site and lots of good trees and shrubs for bird finding. Surprisingly, most of us never go there due to the pressure from all the campers and boaters at Pearrygin. We birded for about 2 1/2 hours with the highlights being a Yellow-headed Blackbird (uncommon in the Methow) and a Yellow-breasted Chat. There were lots of observations of singing Lazuli Buntings and also a few Gray Catbirds. On the lake we saw a group of six Pied-billed Grebes, probably a family group although they were all about the same size. Still lots of wildflowers blooming. Juliet Rhodes photographed this mariposa lily, a flower most of us had never seen in the Methow.

Here is the list of birds we observed for the morning.

Mallard

Pied-billed Grebe
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Unidentified gull
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-naped Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Western Wood-Pewee
Eastern Kingbird - at a nest
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee - heard
House Wren
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Black-headed Grosbeak
Lazuli Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bullock's Oriole
American Goldfinch

The next Bird Walk in the Methow is August 9th, although I'm up for going anytime. We meet at the MVSTA parking lot next to the fitness center at 7:30 am.