Subject: [Tweeters] South-Central Washington (long)
Date: Jun 30 22:08:44 2006
From: Paul Webster - paul.webster at comcast.net
South-Central Washington
June 27-29, 2006
Last June, our relatives Tom and Pam Webster of Fairbanks helped us on our birding trip to Alaska, so Barbara and I planned this trip for their visit to our state.
In Kittitas County we stopped first at Stampede Pass Rd, then continued on to Hidden Valley-Emmerick Rd east of Cle Elum and the Swauk Cemetery across SR 970 from Hidden Valley Rd. We then followed up on the report by Marv Breece of Black-backed Woodpeckers in a burn on Elk Heights Rd, at Exit 93 from I-90. This place became the highlight of the morning: we had extended looks at two woodpecker families: two adult and two juvenile Black-backed Wood-peckers, and two adult and two juvenile Hairy Woodpeckers. In the burn we also spotted two Northern Flickers, a Western Wood-Pewee, a Mountain Bluebird, two American Robins, and ten Mourning Doves. We cancelled our walk up Umtanum Creek in the L.T. Murray Wildlife Area as the temperature had risen to the mid-90s, and found a shaded picnic table instead, and watched the birds in the large cottonwoods and ponderosa pines by the river as we ate lunch.
The car thermometer read 102? as we passed into Yakima County and headed west to Fort Simcoe, where we found 5 Lewis's Woodpeckers, heard baby woodpeckers from a nest hole in a large Garry Oak, and watched the adults chase away an American Kestrel that had gotten too close to the nesting tree. We had planned to bird the creek, too, but it was just too hot. So we headed for Lateral C and found Bobolink in a wet field not far from Pumphouse Rd, and a couple hundred Barn Swallows sunning themselves on a powerline nearby. On Pumphouse Rd we found the Bank Swallow colony with a hopeful young Loggerhead Shrike not far away. The marsh at Toppenish NWR was virtually steaming at 5 pm as a few waterfowl loafed about - Bullock's Orioles, Cedar Waxwings, and Black-headed Grosbeaks browsed in a bush with ripe fruit, and a few smaller birds sang from the marsh.
Wednesday morning we started in Klickitat County, and stopped first at the marsh on Hill Rd near Fish Hatchery Rd, finding Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, and Virginia Rail. Then we continued southeast above the Klickitat River, finding Lewis's Woodpecker, Ash-throated Flycatcher, and Warbling Vireo in the roadside oaks. In Klickitat, around ten miles upriver from Lyle, at a station with a half-dozen feeders we found Lesser Goldfinches feeding alongside American Goldfinches. At Wishram we took the Dalles Mountain Road over the Columbia Hills, finding good numbers of Horned Lark and Vesper Sparrow. Finally, we went up US 97 to Brooks Memorial Park, and found Red-naped Sapsucker, Orange-crowned, Nashville, and Yellow-rumped Warblers.
On Thursday morning we visited the Klickitat Wildlife Area, and located a Gray Flycatcher, about 20 Western Bluebirds, and an assortment of other passerines including nuthatches, chickadees, and tanagers. Then we continued to the Conboy Lake NWR and walked the Willard Springs Nature Trail, where the highlights were a White-headed and two Hairy Woodpeckers. After lunch we started the long drive back to Seattle.
Total species: 111
(Kittitas =K; Yakima=Y; Klickitat=Kt)
Pied-billed Grebe - Y
Double-crested Cormorant - Y
Great Blue Heron - K, Y, Kt
American Bittern - Kt
Canada Goose - Y, Kt
Mallard - Kt
Common Merganser - Kt
Turkey Vulture - K, Y, Kt
Osprey - K, Y, Kt
Northern Harrier - Y, Kt
Sharp-shinned Hawk - Kt
Red-tailed Hawk - K, Y, Kt
American Kestrel - Y, Kt
California Quail - K, Kt
Virginia Rail - Kt
Sora - Kt
American Coot - Y, Kt
Killdeer - K, Y, Kt
Wilson's Snipe - Y, Kt
Spotted Sandpiper - Kt
Ring-billed Gull - Y, Kt
California Gull - Kt
Rock Pigeon - Y, Kt
Band-tailed Pigeon - K
Mourning Dove - K, Y, Kt
Common Nighthawk - Y, Kt
Vaux's Swift - Kt
Calliope Hummingbird - Kt
Rufous Hummingbird - K, Kt
Belted Kingfisher - K, Kt
Lewis's Woodpecker - Y, Kt
Red-naped Sapsucker - Kt
Red-breasted Sapsucker - K
Downy Woodpecker - Kt
Hairy Woodpecker - K, Kt
White-headed Woodpecker - Kt
Black-backed Woodpecker - K
Northern Flicker - K, Y, Kt
Olive-sided Flycatcher - Kt
Western Wood-Pewee - K, Y, Kt
Willow Flycatcher - Kt
Gray Flycatcher - Kt
Say's Phoebe - Kt
Ash-throated Flycatcher - Kt
Western Kingbird - K, Y, Kt
Eastern Kingbird - K, Y, Kt
Horned Lark - Kt
Tree Swallow - K, Kt
Violet-green Swallow - K, Y, Kt
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - K, Kt
Bank Swallow - Y
Cliff Swallow - Kt
Barn Swallow - K, Y, Kt
Cedar Waxwing - K, Y, Kt
American Dipper - K
Rock Wren - Kt
House Wren - K, Kt
Marsh Wren - Y, Kt
Western Bluebird - K, Kt
Mountain Bluebird - K
Veery- K
Swainson's Thrush- Kt
American Robin - K, Y, Kt
Black-capped Chickadee - K, Kt
Mountain Chickadee - K, Kt
Pygmy Nuthatch - K
Red-breasted Nuthatch- K, Kt
White-breasted Nuthatch - K, Kt
Brown Creeper - Kt
Loggerhead Shrike - Y
Steller's Jay - K, Kt
Western Scrub-Jay - Kt
Black-billed Magpie - K, Y, Kt
American Crow - K, Y, Kt
Common Raven ?- K, Kt
European Starling - K, Y, Kt
Cassin's Vireo - Kt
Warbling Vireo - K, Kt
Orange-crowned Warbler - Kt
Nashville Warbler - Kt
Yellow Warbler - K, Y, Kt
Yellow-rumped Warbler - K, Kt
MacGillivray's Warbler - K
Common Yellowthroat - Y, Kt
Yellow-breasted Chat - Y
Western Tanager ?- Kt
Spotted Towhee - K, Kt
Chipping Sparrow - K, Kt
Vesper Sparrow - K, Kt
Lark Sparrow - Kt
Savannah Sparrow - K, Kt
Song Sparrow - K, Kt
White-crowned Sparrow - K, Kt
Dark-eyed Junco - Kt
Black-headed Grosbeak - K, Y, Kt
Lazuli Bunting - K, Kt
Bobolink - Y
Red-winged-Blackbird - K, Y, Kt
Western Meadowlark - K, Y, Kt
Yellow-headed Blackbird - Y, Kt
Brewer's Blackbird - K, Y, Kt
Brown-headed Cowbird - K, Y, Kt
Bullock's Oriole - K, Kt
Cassin's Finch - K
Purple Finch - Kt
House Finch - K, Kt
Red Crossbill - K
Lesser Goldfinch - Kt
American Goldfinch - K, Y, Kt
Evening Grosbeak - K
House Sparrow - K, Y, Kt
Paul Webster
Seattle
paul.websterATcomcast.net