This is an easily-accessible site to see
White-throated Swifts in Yakima county. I discovered
it while driving across the state on Friday. I will
be certain to visit this stop from now on when driving
through Yakima!

* * *

The I-82 eastbound Sela Creek rest stop, just north of
the cities of Selah and Yakima (mile post 24),
overlooks the Selah Cliffs Natural Area
Preserve--which is a pretty canyon carved out by Selah
Creek--a little gem along the I-82 corridor.

I pulled into the rest stop because I could see the
WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS from the highway as it crossed
the canyon. I was at the rest stop from 6:30-7pm.
There were the usual House finches, Brewer's
blackbirds, starlings, and House sparrows, but also
30-50 WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS flying over the cliffs and
I-82 bridge. It looked like they might be roosting or
nesting in the holes under the bridge. While I was
walking around, I noticed two RAVENS hanging out on
the fence by the cliffs. One suddenly took off and
started flying over the cliffs doing "180" flips,
irritating a pair of AMERICAN KESTRELS, who did aerial
maneuvers, to which the raven responded in kind. The
kestrels left about the time a RED-TAILED HAWK sailed
into view almost at eye level and flew east toward the
bridge. All during this time, the swifts were calling
and flying overhead.

Note: Only the eastbound rest stop overlooks the
cliffs and had swifts. The westbound rest stop is two
miles north, and only had the regular rest stop
species.

Andrea Wuenschel
North Seattle



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