Hello Tweets and NW Inlanders,

We endured yet another rewarding Memorial weekend at this years 42nd annual Wenas Campout in Yakima Co. The weather remained very good all 4 days(the 27th-30th),except for a quick and persistent thunderstorm Sunday evening that caught many of us by surprise,as it drenched many of us and cancelled evening activities,but conditions cleared and returned normal the following morning. Our main highlight of the trip of several notable species was a Least Flycatcher at Lower Hardy Canyon observed and heard sporadically calling/singing on the 28th-30th from a near annual location in appropriate habitat. The highlight of the sighting was not just the sighting itself,but that the bird was found on a nest,although only one bird was observed during all 3 days. This was a substantial and unexpected occurrence for us personally eventhough we have encountered this species several times in recent years at this same location during the Memorial weekend with sightings occurring into June,but never a nestsite located. It is an exceptional observation anywhere in WA currently and we somehow theorized at times the bird just making a "mock" nest like the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher did during it's 2002 visit near this location during the same period. The Least Flycatcher essentially was observed calling only from a partial Aspen grove in lower Hardy Canyon on the morning of the 28th,as it actively and elusive foraged around a somewhat limited area within the perimeter of the Aspen grove. During an afternoon visit that same day the bird was more intently watched at the same location,as it continued to call occasionally by giving it's sharp "whit" or "pipp" calls notes,but always seemed to return to a favored location in the canopy of a Aspen patch and concealed quite readily by fairly dense foliage. We stood patiently watching the bird return to this location for 2 hours until a nest was carefully examined in our binoculars and zoomed in magnification of our digital camera. We were excited in seeing the bird returning to a perfectly constructed cup nest in a crotch of two main branches in view to us below in the canopy of the Aspen trees and we continued watching the bird leave and return to this neststite many times through the same afternoon period,as it would assemble delicate material and seem to line the nest for additional strength,but to us at the time seemed like a near perfect nest.

The bird continued adding material to it's nest,as well as foraged within the grove of trees and we still never saw a second bird and wondered if it could be possible to a single bird to breed then finish doing all the nest-building by itself and so on. We returned to the location the following morning on the 29th after announcing the sighting/location to at least one source as we all watched the bird again actively adding onto it's nest,as well as calling and occasionally giving parts of the basic song so we knew that the bird in all was definitely not on territory. The bird continued to remain very active and nervous throughout all observations,but we figured it was due to it's normal nesting behavior so we tried to keep our visits to a minimum in hopes the bird would continue. We did notice during this visit that the nest was much larger than initially thought,as it stuck out much more from the backside,as we carefully examined from below. We again returned to the location the final and last time before working our way home on the morning of the 30th(Memorial Day),but this time we immediately noticed that the nest was somehow blown down by heavy winds the following evening until out theories proved correct when we found the nest partially clung amongst some dead branches immediately below the actual nesting location. We observed all this before even seeing or hearing the bird and within 15 or so minutes of standing finally relocated the bird,as it continued to forage actively with in the canopy of several Aspen trees. The bird at this time also partially sang more readily than previous visits,as well as called and also occasionally dropped to lower elevations within the Aspen grove to forage. The bird however was never observed returning to the actual nestsite or attempt to rebuild it's nest or salvage some of the material from the existing nest perhaps because of our presence or maybe not. Anyhow, these were our personal observations during a 3 day period of the Least Flycatcher and we hope to update our photos gallery of this bird and it's nest very soon! Perhaps some of the local Yakima area birders may monitor this location during upcoming days/weeks,as the Least Flycatcher continues.

Other noteworthy sightings during our 4 days visit to the Wenas area included the following:

1 female Wood Duck(with 5 young)along Maloy Rd.

1 male Blue-winged/Cinnamon Teal intergrade(with 2 male Blue-winged Teal and 2 Cinnamon Teal)at Wenas Lake on the 29th

1 Ring-necked Duck at Wenas Lake on the 30th

3 Lesser Scaup at Wenas Lake on the 28th

1 Bufflehead at Wenas Lake on the 27th

4-5 Turkey Vultures observed along North Wenas Rd. and Wenas Rd. on the 27th-29th

1 Osprey at Wenas Lake on the 27th and 29th

1 adult Northern Goshawk along the North Fork of Wenas Creek on the 27th(flushed,then continued northward and being a great surprise at this location for the time of year)

2 adult Golden Eagles over Black Canyon on the 28th

1 Prairie Falcon observed over the Wenas Campout on the 27th with an additional bird noted at lower Hardy Canyon on the 29th.

5 calling Sora and 1 Virginia Rail heard along Wenas Rd. in a wetland area just west of Wenas Lake.

3 Flammulated Owls along Dry Creek Rd. on the 27th(with 1 bird briefly seen at fairly close range and 2 additional bird heard calling nearby)and up to 2 calling birds heard on the 28th near this same location . It was a nice sighting for this species after missing it last year!

Northern Saw-whet Owl
1 calling bird heard along Dry Creek Rd. on the 27th

Common Nighthawk
small to increasing numbers heard and seen calling overhead at several location during the campout,including over lower Hardy Canyon and the Wenas Campout area.

Common Poorwill
small numbers heard calling all 3 evenings from favored locations within the Wenas Campout area and along nearby Dry Creek Rd.

White-throated Swift
1 bird observed with a Cooper's Hawk fairly high overhead the Wenas Campout area on the 27th

Black-chinned Hummingbird
small numbers observed from at least three location during the Wenas Campout,including multiple birds at our feeders and single birds along Wenas and Maloy Rds.

Anna's Hummingbird
1 adult female observed briefly at our feeders on the morning of the 30th(with a nearby female Black-chinned Hummingbird and female Calliope Hummingbird and represented a exciting and totally unexpected sighting for this very rare species at this location)

Lewis' Woodpecker
Up to 3 birds noted within the Wenas Campout area on the 27th,28th,and 29th

White-headed Woodpecker
2 birds at an active nestsite within the Wenas Campout area(with an additional lone female observed in an Aspen grove along Maloy Rd. on the 29th)

Willow Flycatcher
Up to 2 singing birds at lower Hardy Canyon on the 28th-30th

Gray Flycatcher
Up to 5 singing birds observed within the Wenas Campout area on the 27th

Steller's Jay
1 calling bird within the Wenas Campout area on the 29th,which seemed somewhat odd for this location at this time of year

Veery
somewhat good numbers(heard and seen)within the Wenas Campout area along Wenas and Dry Creeks,as well as along nearby Maloy Rd. This is always highlight species during the Wenas Campout!

Gray Catbird
Up to 7 birds observed and heard singing/calling from 2 separate locations on the 28th and 29th including 5 at lower Hardy Canyon and 2 along Maloy Rd. 3 birds were seen together at lower Hardy Canyon on the 30th.

Loggerhead Shrike
1 adult bird along Wenas Rd. north of Wenas Lake on the 27th

Nashville Warber
very good numbers noted from several locations during the Wenas Campout,and undoubtedly the most abundant warbler species seen and heard singing with lesser numbers of MacGillivray's Warblers and Yellow Warblers noted,as well.

Yellow-breasted Chat
Up to 5 birds at lower Hardy Canyon on the 28th with 2-3 seen and heard there on the 29th and 30th from favored locations,as well as a single bird heard singing near Wenas Lake on the 29th.

Brewer's Sparrow
2 singing birds(with 2 Lark Sparrows)along North Wenas Rd. on the 27th


Of special interest dragonflies species encountered during the trip(without too much effort)to the Wenas area included the following:

Western Red Damsel
Boreal Bluet
Swift Forktail
Western Forktail
Vivid Dancer(a personal first record for us)
Blue-eyed Darner
Common Green Darner
Twelve-spotted Skimmer
Variegated Meadowhawk



Yesterday on our way home we made a very extensive visit to an "old" burn area after 11am that is accessed from Hwy.12 at the end of FR 1284(just below White Pass in Lewis Co.)and along nearby FR 45 along Cortright Creek Trail. The actual burn area is a quite strenuous and lengthy hike,being steep in places and low clouds made for a fairly wet hike. The weather at these locations was quite dreary with very low clouds and fog hugging the highest hillsides,as well as light drizzle at times,but birding was quite good with several notable highlights to be added to our trip list below and a along awaited visit to these locations again seemed worthwhile. Nearby White Pass remained warm and sunny just a smile or so away from the burn area,which seemed surprising. Highlights species noted from the two listed Lewis Co. locations includes the following:

1 Barrow's Goldeneye(along Hwy.12 at Kuuppenburg Lake)
1 adult Cooper's Hawk
6-7 calling Blue Grouse
1 Spotted Owl(heard only at a fairly close distance in a dense forested area)
4 American Three-toed Woodpeckers(observed and heard drumming at two locations including at the actual burn area,as well as more forested areas)
2 Black-backed Woodpeckers(observed at two locations below the actual burn area in a light forested area)
2 Olive-sided Flycatchers
3 Hammond's Flycatchers
2 Pacific-slope Flycatchers
10+ Gray Jays
1 Clark's Nutcracker
6 Mountain Chickadees
1 White-breasted Nuthatch(observed in the burn area and represents a very unexpected and noteworthy species/sighting for this location)
5 Brown Creepers
4 Mountain Bluebirds
5 Townsend's Warblers(observed and heard singing just below the burn area)
3 pure Hermit Warblers(observed and heard singing in more heavily forested areas along FR 45)
1 Chipping Sparrow
3+ "Slate-colored"Fox Sparrows(in thick,vegetated areas below burn area)
3 Pine Grosbeaks(observed at two locations,including a pair in the actual burn area followed by a single male observed in more forested areas below the burn)


Mammal highlights observed at this location included a single Roosevelt Elk and a single Snowshoe Hare



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit at worldnet.att.net