The highlight of a warm Thanksgiving morning of birding in the Lewis-Clark
Valley was an extraordinary stop at Mann Lake. I got out to scope the lake
from a pullout just before the settling ponds and immediately heard the
distinctive calls of a SWAMP SPARROW coming from near the Settling Ponds.
As I approached, a truck passed, and the bird stopped calling. I circled
around the east side of the ponds and then began walking back west on the
berm that runs along the north side of the settling ponds. I then heard
and eventually saw the SWAMP SPARROW foraging on the north side of the
berm, in the dense grass and willows. As I was watching it, I could hear a
second SWAMP SPARROW calling behind me, from the dense grass lining the
middle settling pond. After securing photos of the first one, I went and
successfully got photos of the second. Photos of both and a video with
call notes are in my eBird checklist (link below). As I was watching the
sparrows, I was shocked to hear an Empidonax “whit” call coming from the
densest willows north of the berm.
I had left my truck open and scope unattended when ran off after the Swamp
Sparrow call, so I returned to put stuff away and close up. I then made me
way down to the lake shore via the currently under-construction stairs west
of the settling ponds. I figured that I might find the empid by walking
the lake shore and looking back into the riparian vegetation. Instead, the
PALM WARBLER quickly popped up, and I was off on the mad dash to watch and
document it. I quickly lost the Palm (after getting a couple usable
shots), and all the rare birds were quiet and unaccounted for. I walked
way up the lake shore beyond the model airplane area, and then returned to
the settling pond area (but still walking the water’s edge). There, I
finally got my first looks at the empid. What I saw informed my original
impression and hunch that it was a DUSKY FLYCATCHER. The call narrowed it
down to Dusky, Gray, and Willow, with the later being near impossible at
this date. The plumage, foraging motions, and behavior were all consistent
with Dusky and not Gray (see eBird checklist for details, one poor photo,
and a video featuring call notes). This was actually the hardest of the
rare birds to watch and document, and stuck to the dense willows north of
the berm/settling ponds. It was almost always heard before, or to the
exclusion of, being seen.
I did also eventually catch back up with the PALM WARBLER and then found it
intermittently quite easy to watch. During my first encounter, it was
mostly alone, but later it was foraging in the company of Yellow-rumps and
Juncos. It’s recognizable call note is almost intermediate between those 2
species (but louder), and helps in locating it (common theme for all these
rare birds). My best viewing was near the willow edge nearest to the
“under-construction stairs” where a little spit of water runs toward the
road, and that is where I would start looking for it.
Also present were the continuing flock of 50+ SNOW GEESE, 7 TUNDRA SWANS,
28 Killdeer, 1 BONAPARTE’S GULL, at least 2 MARSH WRENS, and a very random
flyover singleton BOHEMIAN WAXWING.
Photos and other documentation are in my eBird checklist:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40685573.
Mann Lake is at the east end of Powers Avenue east of Lewiston Orchards in
Nez Perce County.
Feeling Grateful for great birding this fall and wishing you a Happy
Holiday.
Carl Lundblad
Moscow, ID
