Subject: Sunday, June 07, 99/Umtanum area/Yakima Canyon
Date: Jun 8 13:04:22 1999
From: Maureen Ellis - me2 at u.washington.edu
Folks,
WESTERN WOOD Peewees were EVERYWHERE, especially along the 'Bluebird'
road. The temperature was still quite cool with an icy wind along Umtanum
Road out of Ellensburg all the way to the Maloy and N Wenas Road junction.
Nesting LEWIS Woodpeckers were noted (near Bluebird box #24), and
encountered a feller doing the weekly survey of the nesting boxes.......95
are now occupied with MOUNTAIN or WESTERN Bluebird eggs; only 6 boxes have
Wren eggs rather than Bluebird's. The surveyor also mentioned there were
no hatchlings yet (LATE!), but later did see one male WESTERN Bluebird
carrying food;so, maybe some boxes are just starting to hatch.
Also, viewed a beautiful, adult, male, fieldguide-perfect GOSHAWK
sitting on a branch over the Umtanum Creek (odd location!) in Yakima
Canyon, i.e., Canyon Road, not far up the footpath from the railroad track
and the swinging bridge across the Yakima River (WA Delorme, pages 50-51.)
A Prairie Falcon was also soaring around, and a small flock of EVENING
Grosbeaks were seen plus BLACK-HEADED Grosbeaks, YELLOW-BREASTED
Chats and a single CEDAR Waxwing. An apparent migration (way-late!?) of
BROWN-HEADED Cowbirds was in progress through the area with many males
seen.
Cheers,
Maureen Ellis me2 at u.washington.edu U of WA & Burien-Seahurst Park, WA
"Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of
confusion and bamboozle requires vigilance, dedication, and courage."
-Carl Sagan-
"We are confronted with insurmountable opportunities." -Pogo-