Subject: Columbia Plateau
Date: Jun 16 07:38:48 1999
From: C. Thrush - ishriver at u.washington.edu



Friends,

Thanks to Jane Westervelt, Denny Granstrand, and Maureen Ellis, I had a
great trip over the mountains these past few days. I put on over 1,400
miles exploring -- birding, checking out tribal museums, and photographing
Native fishing platforms along the Columbia and Klickitat. Here are some
of the birds I managed to find (new ones for me have an *):

Umtanum Creek Recreation Area on the Yakima River:

Yellow-breasted chat*
Western wood pewee*
Townsend's solitaire*
Rock dove
Raven
American goldfinch
Cedar waxwing
Black-headed grosbeak
Red-winged blackbird
Northern oriole*

At milepost 15 along the Yakima Canyon road:

A huge colony of cliff swallows
Sage thrasher*
Western meadowlark
Rock wren*

At various places on the Yakima Reservation:

Kestrel (two nests at Ft. Simcoe, about to fledge)
Lewis' woodpecker (at least five nests at the fort)
Western kingbird
Eastern kingbird
Bobolink*
Mourning dove
Kildeer (did you know that the Yakima word for kildeer is tiit, "fart"?)
Northern harrier
Black-shouldered kite (I think)

On the upper reaches of the Klickitat River:

Rough-legged hawk*

At the McNary NWR headquarters in Burbank:

Wood duck
Redhead
Yellow-headed blackbird
Ruddy duck
Caspian tern
American coot
Lesser scaup
Mallard
Hooded merganser
Kildeer
Brown-headed cowbird
Mourning dove
Great blue heron
Shoveller
California-western gull hybrid
Pied-billed grebe
Marsh wren
Gadwall
White pelican
Double-crested cormorant
Red-winged blackbird
Song sparrow
Ring-necked pheasant
California quail
And something fluttering down into the reeds that looked like an 2nd
spring black-crowned night heron or possibly a bittern -- any thoughts?

I ran out of steam on the way home before hitting Wenas, which was a big
disappointment. Maybe another one-night trip in the near future -- and
I'd love to have a guide!

Also, it's not about birding, but I'd like to suggest a visit to the
Tamastslikt Cultural Center on the Umatilla Reservation just outside of
Pendleton. I spend a lot of time looking at tribal museums, and this is
the best I've ever seen. Check it out if you're in the area.

Again, thanks to Denny, Maureen, and Jane for their tips. It was great
fun!

Coll

*************************************************************************
Coll-Peter Thrush, M.A.
Mangels Fellow in Public History
Graduate Program in History
University of Washington, Seattle
ishriver at u.washington.edu
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