Hello, Everyone,
Yesterday my husband Mark (Ahlness) and I traveled over Snoqualmie Pass from
Seattle to the Elk Heights burn. We arrived there just after 8 a.m., and the
first bird we saw at the burn was a male Wild Turkey, hanging out with a
flock of deer. The Turkey quickly disappeared over the ridge. We enjoyed
watching the family of Black Blacked Woodpeckers, probably three young, with
both male and female adults. Also saw several Hairy Woodpeckers nearby,
many W. Bluebirds, Western Tanagers, and a brief look at what seemed to be a
Grasshopper Sparrow. Many thanks to Maestro Gene Hunn for finding these
birds and sharing the location in his June 22 post. It was SO easy, and
very beautiful place.

Later, we hiked the Cle Elum ridge area (from Teanaway Rd.), didn't see that
many birds there, but got some good exercise hiking uphill. It was a breezy
day, and not too hot, but this area at mid-day was very warm. We left, and
headed for iced lattes in Ellensburg.

>From there we went to Umtanum Road, and found the Sage Thrasher just before
the intersection of Durr Road on the right side of the road perched on the
barbed wire fence. Thank you to Michael Fleming for his post about his
sightings at this location! Seeing nothing in the parking lot, we spent
some time walking the waterside trail at Umtanum Falls, and found an entire
family of Red-Naped Sapsuckers, about midway to the falls, in Alders. Both
parents, three young. Very fun to watch, spectacular looks at this bird. By
this time, we had completed a couple of Woodpecker lifer dances.

Along the road, we saw dozens of great birds, and were getting whiplash from
stopping constantly. It was great weather yesterday, so we were able to
leave the a/c off. In the vicinity of Bluebird Box 24, there are nesting
Lewis's Woodpeckers. A female Blue Grouse ( I hope it was a Sooty, because
things just got harder this week) appeared in the rear view mirror just as
we were leaving this spot.

We stopped briefly at Wenas on the way out, and heard Veery singing and saw
a female Calliope Hummingbird.

Above Wenas Lake, a juvie Killdeer lay by the road waiting for a parent or
sibling who had been hit by a car.

The trip home detoured, accidentally, through Yakima Canyon, which was very
beautiful, and the Cascades were silhouetted in pink and baby blue as we
drove home over the pass. All in all, a very very fine five Woodpecker
day. We slept VERY well last night.



Janeanne Houston
www.elmgroveproductions.com
www.northwestartists.org
houstojc at plu.edu
janeannesoprano at comcast.net
This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more
beautifully, more devotedly than ever before- Leonard Bernstein, 1963