Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I ventured back over to the Hardy Canyon area near Wenas
in Yakima Co., mainly to observe the adult male Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and
it's nest-building achievements,in which we were also joined by Denny
Granstrand while Denny and my mother took additional photographs of the bird
as well as the completed nest. The bird was mainly in view or heard during
our entire visit with little effort involved in pursuing the bird on
foot,but rather waiting at a relatively safe distance from really disturbing
the bird.

For those in concern of the the nestsite being approached too closely or of
the relative disturbance from recent observers,the area around the nestsite
is partially tramped down(mainly around the immediate nestsite),BUT only
because of our efforts on the 26th of May in being the first to locate and
provide evidence of the actual nestsite of this bird. There were five
observers on the 26th of May that were sitting at the actual nestsite
unaware at the time of that nestsite until the bird was initially observed
bringing the first nesting material to the sage bush,then this behavior
continued through the day and also on the 27th too,as observed by other
birders, so the area around the actual nestsite was NOT tramped down on
purpose of getting closer to the nest,but in watching bird in the field
until the nestsite was finally located then a substantial amount of distance
was taken in order to keep our distance from the nest-building activity,at
least by the five observers present during our visit on the 26th.

This morning(the 1st of June)the bird was most active foraging,calling and
singing in it's territory in the same vicinity than noted last weekend,BUT
it does appear not to be adding on to it's nest,except for visiting the
nestsite on occasion,as noted on several occurances during our visit between
7:30am-10:30am. The main highlight of our trip and for the immediate area
was a ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER(heard first then seen)at the base of Black
Canyon,before we met Denny at the base of Hardy Canyon along Wenas Rd. The
bird was actively calling then flew east along the gentle slope at the base
of Black Canyon and could not be relocated.

We were able to do some owling along Wenas Rd. between Hardy and Burn
Canyons,despite some mild winds,but a near half moon. 2 adult Long-eared
Owls and 1 juvenal Long-eared Owl were among the highlights at the base of
Burn Canyon(accessed immediately off of Wenas Rd.,just west of Black
Canyon). The owls were all heard along Wenas Creek at the previous location
after 3:45am in dense patches of willow,alder,and Black Cottonwood,as were
several other landbird species including:

1 Spotted Sandpiper
1 Common Snipe
1 Great Horned Owl(heard and seen)
2 Common Nighthawks
1 Common Poorwill(heard and seen within a close range of 5 feet along the
north shoulder of Wenas Rd. between Black and Burn Canyons)
3 Western Wood Pewees
1 Pacific-slope Flycatcher
2 Gray Catbirds
1 Veery
3 Yellow-breasted Chats

Our first main species of the morning was the Ash-throated Flycatcher,then
we spent time watching and photographing the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher(along
with Denny),then walked further uphill into the upper portions of Hardy
Canyon for approxiametely 2 miles past the gnatcatcher location with few
additional species than noted further below in the canyon.We then headed
back and watched the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher again until 10:15am then
proceeded on our way home,with some additional stops made at Lower Hardy
Canyon,Wenas Lake,and our final stop made at the White Pass Campground on
our way home. A list of additional species follows at selected locations:

Blue-winged Teal
1 male along Wenas Rd.(west of Wenas Lake)on a private farm pond

Harlequin Duck
1 female flying south along the Tieton River north of Indian Creek(north of
White Pass)on the s1st of May.

Barrow's Goldeneye
2 pair along Hwy.12 at Dog Lake(just north of White Pass)
5 pair at Leech Lake

Osprey
1 at Wenas Lake
1 at Leech Lake(White Pass Campground)

Northern Harrier
1 along upper Hardy Canyon

Cooper's Hawk
1 at upper Hardy Canyon
1 at Wenas Lake

Golden Eagle
1 adult over Wenas Lake

Ruffed Grouse
1 along upper Hardy Canyon

Common Nighthawk
1 along Wenas Rd.(west of Wenas Lake)
2 at Wenas Lake

White-throated Swift
3 over lower Hardy Canyon(observed late on the 31st of May)

Black-chinned Hummingbird
1 along upper Hardy Canyon

Williamson's Sapsucker
1 male at a nestsite at the White Pass Campground

Dusky Flycatcher
1 at lower Hardy Canyon

Pacific-slope Flycatcher
4 at lower Hardy Canyon

Bank Swallow
4 at Lower Hardy Canyon
5 at lower Black Canyon
7 at Wenas Lake

Bewick's Wren(locally uncommon)
1 at lower Hardy Canyon

Gray Catbird
2 at lower Hardy Canyon

MacGillivray's Warbler
1 at lower Hardy Canyon

Wilson's Warbler
2 at Hardy Canyon

Yellow-breasted Chat
3 at lower Hardy Canyon
2 along the canal north of the Hwy.12/410 intersection

Western Tanager
2 at Hardy Canyon

Lazuli Bunting
8 along upper Hardy Canyon
3 at lower Hardy Canyon

Purple Finch
1 pair at lower Burn Canyon(observed late on the 31st)

In addition to doing our usual birding my mother and I located up to three
dragonfly species as the warming temperatures provided increased activity
compared to last week specifically at Wenas Lake. We noted both specie last
weekend,but were able to observe greater abundance of both species this
afternoon. The three species we encountered included:

Blue-eyed Darner
California Darner
Cardinal Meadowhawk

Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net