July 16 - Heyburn State Park, Idaho

Marty is busy working at the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s State Office in Spokane, so I after we breakfasted at the Holiday Inn, I decided that I needed to go birding.

'Cause it's summer and the Ocean Spray is a-bloom

There were some fairly intense rain showers as I drove south out of Spokane and east into Idaho, but the rain had diminished to mere light showers by the time I arrived at Heyburn State Park’s Hawley Landing.  This, the oldest State Park in the Pacific Northwest, is situated on Chatcolet Lake, part of the greater Lake Coeur d'Alene where the St. Joe River enters.  According to the Spokesman Review, Lake Chatcolet probably got its name from the Coeur d’Alene Indian word for “lake”: “chatq’ele.”

I stopped at the Park office and gladly paid the $5 daily fee.

Because there are birds here.

As I got my gear from the car, I saw a man with a spotting scope, so went over to chat with him.  Ron was monitoring a Bald Eagle’s nest across the lake with 2 mostly-grown young, as part of Avista’s Spokane River Hydro Project license requirement.

'Way across the lake

We chatted for a bit, and as I began to walk toward the Lakeshore Trail, I heard the call of a Cordilleran Flycatcher, and focused my binoculars on the bird.  This, I’m almost ashamed to say, is a Life Bird for me - ABA No. 625.

Back of an Empidonax occidentalis

The reason I’m somewhat abashed is that this species had been “split” from the “Western Flycatcher” in 1989, and I hadn’t made the effort to go birding in its range to add it to my “Life List” until today.

Poor photo, but it's a Lifer!

I continued my walk along the trail along the shore of the lake, which was somewhat marshy.

Beaver Lodge in the marsh

A rickety old dock had roosting Canada Geese and a watchful Kingfisher.

She kept an eye on me, but wasn't about to stop her fishing

I walked west, toward Plummer Marsh.  En route, I watched a mama raccoon with three kits as they foraged for their breakfast, until she finally spotted me.

Yes, they do look like the bandits they are . . .

Several families of Wood Ducks wended their way through the water lilies.

At the mouth of Plummer Creek, the park had built a viewing blind and a boardwalk where I got views of more marsh birds.

Blue Herons are just Great!

A few interpretive signs, identified the local natural history and the mountains .

The sign . . .

 . . . and the view.

I returned on the trail loop above the lake and road, where the Oregon Juncos seemed surprised to have human companionship.

Oregon Junco - nice to see this subspecies again, now that I'm 'home' in the PNW

So, by "twitching" the Flycatcher today, my goal of seeing 75 new "life birds" this year is 2/3 complete.  With luck, I'll achieve the goal later this year.

I've seen lots of Song Sparrows this year . . .

This evening, Marty & I went to supper with friends Jerry and Tori at Spokane's Park Lodge restaurant.  The food was pretty darned good, but a bit on the expensive end.

Heyburn State Park lakeshore trail eBird Checklist is Here

Plummer Marsh eBird Checklist is Here

Heyburn State Park lakeshore return trail eBird Checklist is Here

Douglas' Spirea was in bloom

July 15 - Spokane's Banded Canada Geese

We got up with the alarm this morning and went downstairs to breakfast.  I drove Marty up to her NRCS State office, then returned to walk around downtown Spokane’s Riverfront Park, located along the Spokane River & containing the upper Spokane Falls.

This was the site of the 1974 World Expo, which was the first environmentally-themed World’s Fair.

There were 5.2 million visitors to the fair, which was considered a success, nearly breaking even, revitalizing the blighted urban core, and pumping an estimated $150 million into the local economy and surrounding region.

The site had been industrial, inaccessible, and unappealing prior to the Fair.

Bacon Concrete was one of the beneficiaries of building the Expo site

But now, the park anchors the residents of Spokane to its downtown, with trails and great views of the Spokane Falls cataracts.

There are historical monuments, as well as civic artworks.  The sculpture, The Call and the Challenge by Ken Spiering, was commissioned in 1986.  In recognition of the centennial of Sacred Heart Medical Center, the piece depicts a Sister of Providence laying bricks.

Mother Joseph was 20 years old when she entered the convent of the newly-founded Sisters of Charity of Providence (now Sisters of Providence) in Montreal.  In 1856 Mother Joseph was chosen to lead four missionaries to the Pacific Northwest Territories of the United States.  The Sisters made their home in Vancouver, Washington.  In 1857, the Sisters opened a small cabin that would quickly serve various charitable purposes.  Over the next few years, it housed the convent and infirmary, was an orphanage for both boys and girls, and boarded the elderly and insane.  This cabin would eventually become the first St. Joseph Hospital.

Mother Joseph decided to purchase property and form the "Sisters of Charity of the House of Providence in the Territory of Washington" in 1859. It remains one of Washington State's oldest corporations and the parent corporation for the Providence Health System.  She was aggressive in her fundraising, braving mountains and wilderness on horseback.  Mother Joseph was responsible for the completion of eleven hospitals, seven academies, five schools for Native American children, and two orphanages throughout an area that now encompasses Washington, northern Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.

This artwork is actually a bike rack on the north side of the INB Performing Arts Center.  The sign behind it reads “Bert Bike-A-Rack” (yes, those of us of a certain age just groaned at the word-play…), indicating that it was crafted by Betty Gardner in 2009.

The dams and power generating facilities are operated by Avista, which used to be called Washington Water Power Co. until they changed their name in 1999.

The area had quite a few yellow bellied marmots.

How many rocks could a rockchuck chuck if a rockchuck could chuck rocks?

There are a LOT of Canada Geese on the river and in the park.

I noted that quite a few of them were banded.

So, I spent some time walking through the flocks, trying to read the band numbers with my binoculars,

and ended up reading nine of them well enough to send in the numbers to the USGS Bird Banding Lab.

Whenever you can read a bird band - or one of the “auxiliary” markers - please report the numbers to the Bird Banding Laboratory.  You will receive a “Certificate of Appreciation” for your efforts that will inform you of where and when the bird was banded.  Sometimes, you can contact the bander and they will provide other information, such as what the project was all about, whether the bird had been found previously to your report, and so on.

It ended up that the birds were banded by WDFW biologists locally.  Here is one that had a plastic neck collar with alpha-numeric identification that is much easier to read.

After about 10 a.m. it began to rain, but this cormorant didn’t seem to mind.

Tightrope Walking Double-crested Cormorant

I walked back up to the motel and worked on some blogs (yes, I know I’m two months behind with these) until I met Marty after she was done with work.

There are lots of gulls to scope through on the river

California Gull

Once again, I supped with my wife in the room, watched a little TV movie, and went to bed early.  It was fun to be "bird-watching with a purpose" today.

Drake Mallard in "eclipse" plumage

Spokane Riverfront Park eBird Checklist is Here