I spent a good portion of today birding various spots within Kittitas County. I tried birding in the lower elevations but the wind was to strong, that I decided to head up into a couple of the canyons where it was much better. I started out on the Cooke Canyon Road which then forks into two canyons (Coleman Canyon and Cooke Canyon). I went up Cooke Canyon about two miles or so, and the road became quite rough and there was some logging going on; I then went up Coleman Canyon (about 8 miles), both the road and the birding being much better than Cooke Canyon.

In the afternoon I birded a little in the Cle Elum area and met a couple of birders from the Seattle area (who's names I can not remember) that gave me the name of a location [Coal Mines Trail]within the town of Cle ELum where they had just seen EVENING GROSBEAK. I arrived at the trailhead and the birds were there along with a few VAUX'S SWIFTS flying about.

Additional highlights from the Cooke and Coleman Canyon areas:

WESTERN TANAGER

CALLIIOPE HUMMINGBIRD

LAZULI BUNTING

BLUE GROUSE (2)

YELLOW, ORANGE-CROWNED, WILSON'S, and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS

CHIPPING SPARROW

HERMIT THRUSH

Cheers & Good Birding



Michael Fleming

Ballard, WA

michaellf AT myway.com

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