Dear Tweets:

Yesterday Irene V, Merry D and I made a follow-up trip to Gene Hunn's Jan.
7th Tweeters post, and went to Fort Simcoe (southwest of White Swan on the
Yakima Indian Reservation). I hadn't been there since the 60s, some ten
years before I began birding. I won't go into the changes, which were
extensive.

We didn't have a long list of bird sightings, in spite of total sunshine east
of CleElum, but the wind blew so hard all afternoon the little birds
couldn't take to the air. And we only saw one raptor all day, a Northern
Harrier. Oh, and some
turkey vultures. For Diann - Four in the air between Thorpe and Ellensburg
and three, also flying, west of Toppenish. But the target bird, Lewis's
Woodpecker, was there in abundance! Not a new species for any of us but what
a thrill spending three hours watching dozens of these beautiful birds
chasing, flying about, feeding fledglings on tree branches, or dashing in
and out of nest holes in the giant, ancient Garry oak trees that are such a
signal feature of the Fort grounds.

>From the windy picnic by the Yakima River, watching the woodpeckers,
inspecting the row of old fort buildings, dining on salmon and "fry-bread" at
the Tribal Headquarters restaurant in Toppenish, to the last bird-sighting of
the day - a Nighthawk- near Indian John Hill on the way home - a day to long
remember,

Amy M
McBrdwchr
McBrdwchr at aol.com
Mercer Island