Good evening Tweets,

I just returned from the east side of the Cascades. Driving south on Canyon
Road, at MP 5 along the Yakima River there were 65 WHITE PELICANS resting in
the river at about 9 a.m. "The Birds of Yakima County" (1999) indicates
that they are rare visitors on the river upstream of Yakima. I would be
interested in knowing if this is still considered rare or whether there has
been more movement into the Yakima Canyon since publication five years ago.

We were headed for the Nile area as I had never seen the White-headed
Woodpecker. We drove the loop, heading up FR 1501 along Little Rattlesnake
Creek, and cut across FR 1503 to FR 1500, or the Bethel Ridge Road. We
listened to a WARBLING VIREO singing quite persistently along the creek at
the bridge just before starting up the road. We had consistent sightings of
AUDUBON'S YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. We also saw 4 STELLER'S JAYS, several
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, and several VAUX'S SWIFTS. TURKEY VULTURES were
overhead along the route. About two miles along FR 1503 you come to a
delightful wetland (as long as it isn't mosquito season) on the left. We
circled the area on foot twice, observing a number of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS,
AUDUBON'S YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, a female NORTHERN FLICKER. an AMERICAN
COOT, RING-NECKED DUCKS (male and female), 2 MALLARD drakes and a hen, one
WESTERN BLUEBIRD, OREGON JUNCO, and finally on the second go-round a male
WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER.

We then drove a ways up FR 1600 where I had a few minutes to wander and
enjoy more AUDUBON'S YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, several male WESTERN TANAGERS,
a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, and a TOWNSEND'S WARBLER. We came across a third of
an acre fire burning in a draw. It wasn't clear to us whether it was a
controlled burn so we drove back down to Nile Road and asked a homeowner to
report it to the Wenatchee National Forest. At that point it was time to
get my nephew back to Ellensburg for his dorm's softball team practice. I
may have to head back over there next weekend. I was surprised at how few
people were out and about on such a beautiful day.

Cheers,

Carol Riddell
Edmonds