Hey Tweeters,

On this gorgeous day my dad and I did some birding in a few local areas on
the plateau between about 8am and 2pm. In fields outside of Enumclaw (256th
Street?) we noted a female YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, rather unusual in
summer, and a singing Lazuli Bunting. During the day we had 35 or so Turkey
Vultures in the Enumclaw area. At Flaming Geyser SP we tried for a recently
reported Western Kingbird, but no luck. We then went to check on the Bank
Swallow colony along the Green River (accessed by walking a trail from the
end of 188th Ave SE), mentioned in previous e-mails by Brian Pendleton. The
walk down to the river goes through some nice mixed forest, full of RED-EYED
VIREOS. We had a total of ten birds singing here, and amazingly saw one
very well. Down at the bottom of the forested area, I heard a young Barred
Owl whining. A single series of hoots brought the male right in, and a few
minutes later the pair were dueting above our heads in broad daylight. This
pair had at least three owlets. We then observed the BANK SWALLOWS at their
colony (perhaps the only known colony in King County?), which I'd never
visited before. There seem to be almost 20 nests in use by Bank Swallows on
the riverbank, and in the entire area I counted a conservative 45
individuals. This is apparently more than was noted at the site last year.
Some were carrying food, probably indicating that they have young. There
are lesser numbers of Northern Rough-winged and Cliff Swallows in the area
as well.

Cheers and good birding,
--
Charlie Wright
Sumner, WA
charlie at birdwright.com