Hey tweets, Yesterday my husband and I dithered about going out birding or
staying home and reading the paper, drinking our coffee, putting our feet
on the heater, listening to the rain on the roof, baking an apple pie, and
otherwise leading a normal life. Being birders, naturally we heaved
ourselves up, threw a sleeping bag and two frozen donuts in the car and
left for Cle Elum. The weather was horrible at first, with driving rain and
really crazy drivers. But Snoqualmie Pass had bare pavement and lightly
falling snow, so we took that as a sign to keep going. What a perfect day
we had. The weather stayed cloudy but was perfectly still and clear, except
for the occasional flake. We ended up in South Cle Elum for the real
beginning of our birding. Immediately we saw a large (50-plus) flock of
EVENING GROSBEAKS on the southwest corner of Grant Street. In the backyard
of 403 Grant there are a number of feeders that have attracted the
grosbeaks, as well as a large number of chickadees, red-breasted
nuthatches, Cassin's finches, and American goldfinches. There too we saw
two HERMIT THRUSHES frozen in a bare fruit tree. At first we figured they
had frozen because of us, but then we noticed a MERLIN perched in a nearby
tree, surveying his own smorgasbord laid out before him. I guess the
thrushes had no mind to become lunch.

After looking our fill at this incredible tableau, we drove on to the
corner of Sixth and Madison,and turned east. Halfway down the block we
found a house with a berry tree in the front yard, and there we found our
best spot of the day: a flock of ten PINE GROSBEAKS. What spectacular
birds. Some were pink, some brighter red, some orange and some yellow. They
let us get quite close, so close that through our binocs we could see every
feather, and each speck of berry-peel that the birds discarded. Eventually
the flock flew off up the hill in back, but when we returned to this same
tree at the end of the day, there they were again (insert sighs of ecstasy
here). No neck-twisting attempts to see tiny dark specks at the top of some
conifer, specks that seem to possess the eerie ability to merge into the
tree boughs and disappear faster than the Cheshire Cat. Instead, these
birds were at head-height in a bare tree in perfect light (insert more
sighs here).

Tearing ourselves away at last, we drove to Swauk Prairie on Hwy. 970
(DeLorme 66, squares C2 and C3). To get there, we had to pass through
regular Cle Elum, where Evening Grosbeaks seemed to be thick everywhere we
looked. The residents of both towns have put out numerous bird feeders, and
they have planted bird-friendly bushes too. So food is abundant. Hats off
to these wonderful people.

At Swauk Prairie, we found a large flock of COMMON REDPOLLS (100 plus)
feeding on the east side of Ley Road one mile north of Hwy. 970 near the
cemetery. We've been here before in the spring and summer - the cemetery is
a fantastic spot for eastern WA sparrows, including American Tree and
others. Also a favorite haunt of both kinds of bluebirds. We didn't see
anything that looked hoary in our flock, but still it was a treat to watch
these birds. They kept jumping up into the sky, only to land again almost
immediately after, some on the ground, some on stalks of dried plants.
Every time they rose in the sky, they stuck together like a flock of
dunlin, sometimes even flashing dark/light. Their behavior was completely
different from the redpolls we've seen other times in alder trees. Must be
an adaptable kind of bird. Also in the vicinity were both black-capped and
mountain chickadees, feeding on the same grass-like seeds.

After that, we drove to Hwy. 97 toward Ellensburg, and we exited 6 miles
north of Ellensburg onto Smithson Rd. We drove to the end to look for
another reported flock of redpolls (as reported by Scott Downes) and sure
enough found it. This one numbered about 50 birds or so, and also lacked
any hoaries that we could see. We figured Scott's flock had split into
smaller groups and we just didn't get the group with a hoary in it. Still a
lovely sight, though. Along the way we saw a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK perched in
what must have been a favored tree, because when we drove back, the
rough-legged had been replaced by a similarly plumaged RED-TAILED HAWK. I
was just beginning to question my initial ID (and my birding skills**) when
I relocated the rough-legged perched in a much lower, more scraggly bush
nearby. Talk about getting sand kicked in your face by the resident
beach-bully.

On the way back to Ellensburg, we saw three GRAY PARTRIDGES by the side of
the road on the northeast outskirts of Ellensburg. Although we did not note
the precise street, the partridges were within one mile of the intersection
of Sanders Road with Wilson Creek, just NE of Ellensberg (see DeLorme Map
66, square D4). We saw the birds in the late afternoon.

Now it's back to reality, dirty laundry, tooth going to dentist, cat going
to vet, work piling up, dishes in sink, dust in hallways, etc. Why am I
telling you this? Because for one more moment, I can relive my wonderful
day and hope that you can have one at least as fine. The pleasure of
Tweeters isn't just in reading about hot birds to chase. It also lies in
sharing experiences with others of like mind and heart, knowing that you
will all understand and that not one of you will look at me as though I had
two heads, unlike the rest of my friends and family. - Connie, Seattle

csidles at mail.isomedia.com