Hey tweets, Have you ever felt such joy in life that it comes bursting out
of every pore, to the point where you find yourself singing along at the top
of your lungs to "The Lion Sleeps at Night," and not caring that the trucker
who is passing you on the right is staring at you like you have two heads?
Well, that's the kind of joy I felt on Thursday driving along the open roads
of eastern Washington and stopping whenever the whim struck. Yes, after two
years without a vacation, I stole a day and a half and made a break for it.
The trip was glorious, and I highly recommend that all tweeters do the same.
Don't wait for a weekend. Just go. Here's my route and what I saw:

Highway 20, hit it just after rush hour on Wednesday. Perfect weather, ugly
scenery until I got up in the high country. Things began to improve
significantly after I left behind the flatlands. My first real stop was
Newhalem, where I found a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER, along with HAMMOND'S
FLYCATCHER, VARIED THRUSHES, VAUX'S SWIFTS, BROWN CREEPER and SWAINSON'S
THRUSH.

Rather than rush through my trip, I stopped early at one of the most
fabulous inns I have ever stayed at: Freestone Inn near Mazama. It was a bit
pricey, but I think every now and then one should pamper oneself, don't you?
I stayed in a beautifully appointed cabin right beside Early Winters Creek,
which was in full spate. I opened every window and was lulled to sleep by
the sound of rushing water, noisy yes, but somehow so very different from
rushing traffic noise. Freestone Inn just opened for the season, so the
restaurant wasn't operating yet. But no problem. I drove a little way down
the road to Mazama, which was having its weekly Wednesday pizza feed. I
think the entire community must have been gathered there, chatting with each
other, letting children run wild and generally having a great time. It was
really jolly, even for a shy person like me. Back at Freestone, I sat by the
inn's feeders and watched CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRDS fight with RUFOUS over the
one sugar-water feeder. As I have often noted before, rufous hummingbirds
are disproportionately aggressive for their size. There was one very
cinnabar male who seemed to think that he owned that feeder, whether he was
feeding at it or not. He would hide in a nearby tree and lie in wait for
interlopers, then he would come buzzing out and chase them off. At one
point, a juvenile rufous was bold enough to make his try. When the older
male chased him away, he flew behind a low bush and then dodged all around
as the older male tried to nail him. It was like watching a miniature
merry-go-round, speeded up into double-quick time.

Also at the Inn: WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW, NORTHERN
ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, BARN SWALLOW, nesting SPOTTED SANDPIPER, BROWN-HEADED
COWBIRD, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, PINE SISKIN,
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER (I got a great view of a beautiful
male who climbed a tree beside my head - best view I ever had), COMMON
GOLDENEYE on the Inn's pond, NORTHERN FLICKER, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH,
WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, CHIPPING SPARROW, what looked like an AMERICAN TREE
SPARROW (which should have been in Alaska by now), MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE,
AMERICAN KESTREL, SPOTTED TOWHEE, DARK-EYED JUNCO and STELLER'S JAY.

I didn't want to leave but had to - my target bird (BOBOLINK) was waiting.
However, Loup Loup was on the way, and I just couldn't pass by that magical
place without stopping. Good thing, too. I saw incredible birds, including
WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER, WESTERN TANAGER and TOWNSEND'S WARBLER. As I drove
up, a very large member of the deer family heaved itself to its feet where
it had been sleeping under a tree near the fence on the border of the
campground. It looked like a moose, although I could hardly believe my eyes.
Do moose go to Loup Loup? It had no antlers but a big dewlap and the soft,
squishy face of a moose, rather than the bony face of an elk. I got a good
look before it nonchalently stepped over the fence and disappeared. Later I
stood beside the fence to see how tall it was. It came up nearly to my
chest. I mean, this animal was really big. No one else was at the campground
to ask - the place was deserted, except for two RV's that were unoccupied.
So one thing I learned on this trip is, if you go to the campgrounds along
the North Cacades Highway midweek in early June, you will have the whole
countryside almost to yourself.

My next major stop was Aeneas Valley Road, where sure enough, BOBOLINKS
abounded. What odd birds they are, all dark underneath and light on top.
Also in the fields and nearby bushes, WILLOW FLYCATCHER, COMMON
YELLOWTHROAT, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, SAVANNAH SPARROW, BARN SWALLOW, TREE
SWALLOW and EUROPEAN STARLING (unfortunately). Thanks to all tweeters for
giving such explicit directions to this incredible field, and especially to
Colin Thoreen, who wanted to make very sure that I saw this life bird.

On the way back, I stopped at Swauk Campground (once again, almost empty)
and found ANOTHER WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER. When it rains, it pours. At Rocky
Reach Dam, I stopped to take a nap (big mistake - the temp was 92 and all I
could do was pant, along with the other birds). Oddly, there was a SAY'S
PHOEBE working the bugs around the pay phone, and a WESTERN KINGBIRD on the
fence. You wouldn't think there would be enough habitat for them. Altogether
it was a day for oddities: at Ribbon Cliff, where I stopped to look at the
geology, I found a little collection of BULLOCK'S ORIOLES. What were they
doing in that hot, dry place? Making my life even more glorious, for one
thing - they positively glowed in the sunlight.

Now that I'm back, I'm trying to pick up the threads of my regular life
again. I feel like I've been gone to a different dimension for weeks, a
place so beautiful that all the tribulations of this world fade into
nothingness. My hand does not want to pick up the tapestry of problems,
ills, war, famine, editors breathing down my neck, skipped meetings, kids
needing money, etc. I hope you will forgive the length of this post: it was
a way to relive and prolong the ecstasy that I was lucky enough to
experience for two incredible days. - Connie, Seattle

csidles at isomedia.com