Hi Tweets,

This is a late report. Barbara and I left Wednesday July 27 from Seattle with two birding relatives from Alaska, and made our first stop at Gold Creek, about two miles east of Snoqualmie Pass. The weather was clear, with temps peaking in the mid 90's by late afternoon. What a difference a couple of weeks made from our last trip to this area -- the birds were virtually silent. But we stirred up two Band-tailed Pigeons, Barn, Cliff, and Violet-green Swallows, a couple of Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Warbling Vireo, Yellow-rumped and Townsend's Warbler, and a White-crowned Sparrow. At Easton we found small numbers of Rock Pigeon, Bank Swallow, Steller's Jay, House Finch, Purple Finch, Pine Siskin, and Evening Grosbeak.

We spent a couple of hours in Cle Elum birding along the Northern Pacific Ponds, turning up most of the usual suspects. The road has been paved, so truck traffic doesn't raise the huge dust clouds it once did. The Ospreys from the nest by I-90 were joined by four other Ospreys, and while the unfledged nestling called the six birds soared together in a kettle above us. After a picnic lunch in Cle Elum we visited South Riggs Canyon Rd (Opperman, p. 296). There was fairly good birding here, so we spent about an hour in this riparian area by Manastash Creek.

We took a break for a nap and dinner in Ellensburg, then headed out at 7:30 pm toward Reecer Creek Rd, but we made a wrong turn in town, and came out on Look Rd, where we stopped at a roadside pond just before Hungry Junction Rd. Here we found a few ducks, coots, and Killdeer, two young Wilson's Snipe, a Spotted Sandpiper, and four Semi-palmated Plovers (the list published by Washington Birder shows that the last species is unusual in Kittitas County).

We continued out Reecer Creek Rd, hoping for Common Poorwill, as described by Connie Sidles a couple of weeks ago. Underway we spotted California Quail and numerous Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels. We parked at a turnout up past the second turnaround and listened as a Western Wood-Pewee called until it became dark and several small bats flew about. Then we coasted down the road looking for orange light at the roadside, but our headlights only reflected off two cans -- one for beer, one for tennis balls.

At 7 the next morning we were out at Reecer Creek Rd again, hoping at least for Gray Partridge, but construction near the last farmhouse featured dump-trucks, other machinery, clouds of dust, and no partridges. "Timing is everything," we sighed, and turned our attention to the fine riparian area, though Reecer Creek is better birded later in the day when the sun shines from the west. Still, in a short time we had 18 species, including our first Red-eyed Vireo in Washington. An hour later we were in Vantage, where we found 7 Common Nighthawks roosting in assorted trees and a Rufous Hummingbird at the Gingko State Park visitor center's terrace above the Columbia River.

The temperature climbed past 90 as we drove over the Columbia to Dodson Rd, welcomed by a very dressy-looking Swainson's Hawk. The pond at Frenchman Hills Rd had an assortment of waterfowl, plus Black-necked Stilt and a single Wilson's Phalarope. At the Potholes State Park picnic area we ate sandwiches while watching herons, egrets, grebes, swallows, peeps, and terns. We drove around the Potholes via O'Sullivan Dam, Lind Coulee, and the Moses Lake Starbucks, where it was 98 degrees. On Road D .5 into the Potholes Rookery we found Lark Sparrow, Western Meadowlark, and another Swainson's Hawk . By the time we reached the rookery about 3 pm it was 104 degrees, so we didn't spend a lot of time outside the car. Surprisingly, there was a fair amount of activity, with many birds feeding and lots of cormorants flying about. But after a quarter-hour we had had enough. It was a relief to get back to Ellensburg where the wind was blowing from the west and it was only 90 degrees. Total species seen in two days: 93

Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe (1 at Potholes Rookery)
Western Grebe (1 adult, 1 juvenile at Potholes SP)
Clark's Grebe (2 adults, 1 juvenile at Potholes SP)
American White Pelican (10 at Lind Coulee, a score at the Rookery)
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail (adult with 12+ ducklings at Dodson Rd pond)
Northern Shoveler
Common Goldeneye (1 female in Cle Elum Railroad Pond)
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk (1 over Cle Elum Railroad Pond)
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk (12+ at Reecer Creek & other sites)
American Kestrel (12+ at Reecer Creek & other sites)
Prairie Falcon (1 overhead at Robinson Canyon)
California Quail
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
Semi-palmated Plover (4 at pond on Look Rd; 4 at Potholes SP)
Killdeer
Wilson's Snipe (2 at roadside pond on Look Rd)
Greater Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper (1 at Potholes Rookery)
Spotted Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper (4 at Potholes Rookery)
Least Sandpiper (6 at Potholes State Park picnic area)
Wilson's Phalarope (1 at pond at Frenchman Hills Rd)
Ring-billed Gull (7 in Columbia River)
Caspian Tern (10+ at Potholes Rookery)
Forster's Tern (1 over Lind Coulee)
Rock Pigeon
Band-tailed Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Common Nighthawk (7 roosting at Vantage)
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Western Wood-Pewee
Say's Phoebe (1 at Vantage)
Western Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cedar Waxwing
Gray Catbird
American Robin
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Steller's Jay
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
European Starling
Warbling Vireo (2 at Gold Creek, 2 at Reecer Creek)
Red-eyed Vireo (1 seen/heard at Reecer Creek)
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Western Tanager
Spotted Towhee
Lark Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Black-headed Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bullock's Oriole
Purple Finch
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Evening Grosbeak
House Sparrow

Good birding!

Paul Webster
Seattle
paul.websterATcomcast.net