Natalie and I made our way east of the Cascades this last weekend,
birding on our way over from Tacoma to Wenatchee Saturday, camping
overnight at the Chatter Creek Campground at the upper end of Icicle
Creek near Leavenworth and then birding in the Swakane Canyon and
along the Entiat River before heading home last night. Both of our
highlights of the trip came along Swakane Canyon yesterday, where
first we watched a trio of Red-tailed Hawks hassle a GOLDEN EAGLE
near the mouth of the canyon and then later near the top of the
canyon where the road gets too rough for our passenger car to
continue up into the rugged back country, after sitting in the car
through a rain squall, we stepped out to first hear and then view a
pair of WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKERS prying and hammering at the bark on
the lower reaches of ponderosa pine very close to our car. This was a
great treat to see White-headed Woodpeckers for the second weekend in
a row!

Here is a short run-down of the trip that included seeing 76 species
on Saturday and just 35 species Sunday (some of the Sunday birds were
overlaps with the Saturday species...).

Saturday we tried to combine some book research with doing a
Birdathon trip for the Tahoma Audubon Society, so locating species
was the name of the game on our way over to Wenatchee. We were doing
well until we reached Cle Elum, where a thunderstorm offered a few
flashes of lightning and seemed to slow the birding considerably.
Before leaving Tacoma we spotted a Western Scrub Jay in the north end
of town near the Proctor area, and we made a stop at Titlow Beach to
see the Purple Martins and another stop along the 11th St. Bridge to
ensure a Peregrine Falcon sighting.

Later in the morning at Snoqualmie Pass we found quite a few Vaux's
Swift flying over the trees near the first exit, and at a stop at
Gold Creek to try and find the American Dipper (which wasn't there
for us...) we were buzzed by a Rufous Hummingbird trying to defend
its territory while a MacGillivray's Warbler sang in the background.
We also saw our first butterfly of the trip here, the first of
hundreds of California Tortoiseshell butterflies we would see over
the next 24 hours.

In Cle Elum while a thunderstorm roared over the mountains just to
the north we watched and listening to a gathering of Black-headed
Grosbeaks in the trees outside an art museum. We also made a side
trip along West Nelson Siding Road and saw a dozen or so Sara's
Orangetip butterflies on the wing along with more tortoiseshells and
Cabbage White and blue butterflies that we didn't take the time to
chase down for an ID. Just outside town we happened upon fellow
birder Ken Brown and a small group of Birdathoners from the Tacoma
area along Hidden Valley Road. We all viewed Cassin's Finch, Western
Kingbird, and Say's Phoebe here along with Western Bluebirds in the
fields. Natalie and I later moved on to Swauk Prairie to find
Mountain Bluebirds and Mountain Chickadees in the cemetery along with
Chipping Sparrows.

Our species tally really took a dive as we drove over Blewett Pass
and down to Wenatchee, as the cloudy weather combined with the drive
time and lack of new bird possibilities held us back. We did find a
small group of Evening Grosbeak in the trees along the Wenatchee
River as we walked across the bridge and throughout the trails at the
Horan Nature Area near Confluence State Park. We also saw our only
Cedar Waxwings of the day along the nature trails.

Sunday we kept finding ourselves distracted from the birding and
research by butterflies by the hundreds. After camping up Icicle
Creek where we had Hammond's Flycatcher and Townsend's Warbler among
the birds in the upper canopy in the early morning sunshine, we made
our way down the gravel road toward Leavenworth and found more than
100 butterflies sunning themselves and puddling in a section of the
gravel road that had recently been graded alongside Icicle Creek.
Most of the butterflies were California Tortoiseshells, but we also
had blues and a single Mourning Cloak along with some anglewings.
Further up the road while photographing wildflowers I stumbled upon a
Two-banded Checkered Skipper for a great close up photo. It is
interesting to find this species in the mountains after I saw it a
few weeks ago in the Mima Mounds Nature Area Preserve near Olympia.

The birding was slow for us most of Sunday, with the exception of the
Golden Eagle encounter and the male-female pair of White-headed
Woodpeckers in Swakane Canyon. Stormy weather kept many birds from
showing themselves much. But we did add a Pale Swallowtail, a Yellow
Sulphur, and a Large Marble butterfly to our list before the rain
showers slowed the sightings. Some of our last birds of the trip were
Turkey Vultures first near the turn off to go up to Blewett Pass off
Hwy. 2 and then again near Cle Elum, as well as Osprey and an
immature Bald Eagle as we left the Cle Elum area to climb up and over
Snoqualmie Pass. All in all it was a great weekend for being immersed
in nature!

Rob
--
Rob McNair-Huff ---------- mailto:rob at whiterabbits.com
White Rabbit Publishing -- http://www.whiterabbits.com/
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