Yesterday Fred Parent and I birded the I-90 corridor from Seattle to
Potholes SP. En-route we stooped at several locations, some of which
were rich with activity. In the forest opposite the highway from
Bullfrog Ponds (Opperman, page 273) among a large number of chipping
sparrows we saw a single WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH. From there we
traveled up to Roslyn and in a sort of yard waste area near the
cemetery there was a large bush that was full of probably 20
Red-breasted Nuthatches, a few Mountain Chickadee, and 2 Calliope
Hummingbirds. While watching the mixed feeding flock a bright flash
caught Fred's eye which turned out to be a NASHVILLE WARBLER. Back on
I-90 we saw several Swainson's Hawks souring over the freeway.
Finally reaching our destination in the northern end of Potholes State
Park we saw all the breeding birds there. Black Tern were everywhere.
Seeing so many birds in that oasis of Eastern Washington was amazing.
The icing on the cake was seeing a WHITE-FACED IBIS (pictures
available on request) while glassing the water. On the way back to
the freeway we scared up many LARK SPARROW and a couple Bullock's
Oriole's For the trip we ended up with 88 species. If anyone needs
specific locations for these birds let me know.

Aaron Martin (AAMA)
Seattle, WA (SEWA)