First time posting here. I had the pleasure of birding the Newhalem area on Wednesday the 15th of June. The weather began cloudy, but was glorious in the afternoon. The highlights for me were:

Singing American Redstart at the County Line Ponds, and two Osprey flying along the river in that area.

Singing Nashville Warbler just up the hill at the east end of Newhalem. It was singing non-stop when I was there in the early afternoon, but it took me a while to get a good look at it.

Nothing unusual at the Newhalem Campground, but I was not aware that there are so many Black-throated Gray Warblers there. Also, the scent of Twinflower in many places along the trails was worth the stop at the campground. Sweet, sweet, ambrosia.

Mid-afternoon to early evening at the Aggregate Ponds was great. There were three singing Redstarts within a couple hundred yards of the entrance gate- one by where the road turns left toward the rock piles, one just to the left (east) of the rock piles, and one along the old road/path (between the channel and Highway 20). They were close enough to each other that I was able to position myself in a place where I could hear all three singing at once. There was also one female Redstart calling and flitting around along the channel just past where the main road turns left. Following along the channel for a few hundred yards, I found a fourth singing Redstart after I had passed by the large pond on the left. A little farther down that road before it switches from double-track to "overgrown" single-track, there were two Veerys singing between the road and the highway. With singing Swainson Thrushes in the same area, it was a wonderful concert of flutes!

At the large pond, I saw two Common Nighthawks briefly, and two Eastern Kingbirds were flycatching from the island in the pond.

A common species that is one of my favorites was easy to see along the river. With Oso-berry, Twinberry, and Red Elderberry packed with berries at this time of year, it was a great place for Common Waxwings to be hanging out. I saw a mostly-completed Waxwing nest being worked on by two Waxwings at the County Line Ponds area. One bird was bringing moss to the nest where the other was lining the inside. Those birds are so beautiful, I will never get tired of watching them.

George Heleker
Bellingham, Wa.
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