Tweets - I made a rather long and rambling trip starting last Thursday and
finishing Sunday night through Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Clark, Skamania,
Klickitat, Yakima, and Kittitas counties. The best bird was a NORTHERN
GOSHAWK circling in a thermal above Fisher Hill Rd. in Klickitat County,
then cruising to the north, on Saturday.

Here are some of the other notable sightings I had:

Ridgefield NWR 5/12/2005 (driving loop):
Greater Yellowlegs - 3 across from Kiwa trail lot
Least Sandpiper - 6 with GRYE
Long-billed Dowitcher - 10 with GRYE
Yellow-headed Blackbird - about 8

Julia Butler Hansen NWR 5/13/2005 (driving loop):
Purple Martin - many around nest gourds, boxes
Pacific-slope Flycatcher - one near entrance
Yellow Warbler - had to be in the hundreds
Wilson's Warbler - maybe 1/4 as many as Yellows
Warbling Vireo - about the same number as Wilson's

Road north from the "pass" west of Skamokawa:
Hutton's Vireo - pair
Black-throated Gray Warbler - several
Blue Grouse - booming

Windy River Rd., Skamania County 5/13/2005:
I was hearing both HERMIT and TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS, so I tooted like a
Pygmy-Owl, to see if both species were present. The chickadees and
nuthatches helped get all the birds agitated. Within a minute, I had at
least 10 warblers in a single treetop: 2 were apparently pure Hermits, 2
were apparently pure Townsends, and 4 were clearly HYBRIDS of various
degrees. There was also a Yellow-rump and what was probably a Yellow
Warbler in the same tree.

Dalles Mountain Rd, Klickitat County 5/13/2005:
Chukkar - one
Horned Lark - many along fence posts
Vesper Sparrow - at least 4
Say's Phoebe - one in Centerville

Brooks Memorial State Park, Klickitat County, 5/14/2005:
We had a mini-reunion of the latest SAS Master Birder class. We spent
Saturday driving a big loop, including a visit to Conboy NWR. The group
campground was birdy in the morning, with Cassin's and Warbling Vireos,
Western Tanager, Calliope Hummingbird, Wilson's, Nashville, Yellow, and
Orange-crowned Warbler, a Hammond's Flycatcher, Bullock's Oriole, and quite
a bit more. That evening there was a Western Kingbird and a Western
Wood-Pewee as well.

SR-142, Klickitat County, 5/14/2005:
Lewis's Woodpecker - only 1-2 seen
Canyon Wren - 1

Klickitat-Appleton Rd.:
Hermit Thrush - heard
Dusky Flycatcher - seen and heard well

Fisher Hill Rd.:
Hermit Warbler - 1 heard, but not seen
NORTHERN GOSHAWK - 1 circling in a thermal above us, then cruising to
the north
Townsend's Solitaire - 1 on a snag in a clearcut

Conboy NWR:
Sora - many heard, the damn S.O.B.'s; they refused to be seen
Yellow-headed Blackbird - about 4 from the observation tower
American Bittern - 2 seen from tower
Sandhill Crane - 2 seen, more heard, from tower

Hoctor Rd., Klickitat County, 5/16/2005:
Ash-throated Flycatcher - just east of US-97

Rock Creek, Klickitat County, 5/16/2005:
Lazuli Bunting - many, many seen and heard
Rock Wren - one heard
Canyon Wren - one heard
Lewis's Woodpecker - pair
Ash-throated Flycatcher - 1 seen
Lark Sparrow - about 4 south of Old Hwy 8

Maryhill State Park, Klickitat County, 5/16/2005:
Turkey Vulture - 21 in one tree in the rain
Lesser Goldfinch - about 6
Yellow-breasted Chat - one hiding in a shrub

Satus Pass, Klickitat County, 5/16/2005:
MacGillivray's Warbler - only one I saw all weekend

Toppenish NWR, Yakima Co., 5/16/2005:
Red-necked Phalarope - at least 3
Yellow-headed Blackbird - one

I-82, Selah, Yakima Co., 5/16/2005:
American White Pelican - about 20 flying downriver

Umtanum Recreation Area, Kittitas Co., 5/16/2005:
Just after I crossed the footbridge, there was a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
just sitting in bare branches right next to the trail for several minutes.
It allowed me to walk right past it, looking at it from all angles from
about 20 feet away. Later, a LAZULI BUNTING was singing from the same spot.
I also watched a PRAIRIE FALCON bringing food back towards the nest.
Another falcon, I believe a fledged young bird, flew out from the nest,
chasing the first to the ground on the far slope. The adult, with the food,
regained altitude and flew up to the nest. Later, I saw what looked like a
fledged young at the nest, waiting very imatiently for more food.

All weekend long, the weather was anywhere from iffy to downright horrid,
with torrential rain a couple of times. Still, we had 90 species on our
group trip on Saturday, and I managed about 135 species for the weekend.

== Michael Hobbs
== Kirkland, WA
== http://www.scn.org/fomp/birding.htm
== birdmarymoor at verizon.net