As one who, in recent years, is slowly learning some of these nice central Washington birding areas, with the Opperman book as my guide, I want to state the enthusiasm I also have for Fort Simcoe SP. I visited it recently, too (last Saturday) , as well as Toppenish NWR and points west along Pump House Road. I was apparently too impatient to find a bobolink along Lateral C Road, but I do want to mention a bank swallow colony a couple of miles (I think- unfortunately, I can't recall the exact distance; it may be further) west of the Toppenish NWR visitor center on Pump House Road. Look for the second of two cuts made for private dirt roads to the south. There is also a farmhouse at that spot to the north. Nesting holes are right next to the main road, with more where the private road turns out of sight in perhaps 20-30 yards. Bank swallows were flying close by, on both sides of Pump House Rd.

I had first visited Fort Simcoe last year on Sept. 2nd. At that time, there were acorns all over the ground, and I was amazed at the number of Lewis's Woodpeckers . I saw perhaps 2-3 dozen then, and there was plenty of food gathering/storing activity. This time I saw only a couple on a warm late afternoon in one quick tour around the grounds. I missed some of the other good birds Lonnie saw, as I didn't stay too long in the main grounds of the park. However, I got one of my target species, as mentioned in 'Birder's Guide to Washington' for the site. In the trees along the dry creek bed, south from the east side of the park (southwest of the gravesite), I spotted an empid flycatcher high up. Before I could decide what it was (possibly a gray), it was disturbed and flew. The bird that disturbed it then popped into view and I got about two minutes of side and front views of an ash-throated flycatcher. It finally flew east through the trees , and I was unable to relocate it, or find another. I also saw a western tanager male, chipping sparrows, and northern flickers in that same area.

Best regards,

Bill Boyington
Shoreline, WA
wrboyington at msn.com<mailto:wrboyington at msn.com>


----- Original Message -----
Message: 16
Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 17:29:39 +0000
From: wheelermombi at comcast.net<mailto:wheelermombi at comcast.net>
Subject: [Tweeters] Birding in Central Washington
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu<mailto:tweeters at u.washington.edu> (Tweeters)
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Good morning Tweeters,

I returned last night from a couple of days birding in central Washington. My goal was to find a few target species as well as to explore a few areas that I had not visited before. Excluding the more ubiquitous species, here's what turned up.

June 19,

Toppenish NWR at or near the observation tower: Black-billed Magpie, Bullock's Oriole, Pied-billed Grebe, Black-headed Grosbeak, California Quail, Western Meadowlark, Willow Flycatcher.

Toppenish Visitor Center to the bridge: House and Marsh Wren, California Quail, Gray Catbird, Western Wood Pewee, C. Raven

Old Goldendale Road (just to the west of Toppenish NWR): Eastern Kingbird (very common), Common Yellowthroat, Northern Harrier, Turkey Vulture, Gray Catbird

Lateral C Road (a bit farther west, see map and description in ABA's 'Birder's Guide to Washington', pp. 317-319). With luck, Bobolink can be seen in the fields off of this road. They represent a disjunct colony and seeing this species was the main reason that I traveled to this part of the state. I slowly birded the road north of the small bridge for nearly an hour without any luck. Red-winged Blackbirds were everywhere, but no Bobolinks. Around 4:30 pm, about 200 yards north of the bridge on the eastern side of the road, I spotted a bird a couple of hundred feet off of the road hiding in the thick grass that looked to be the correct size, but it would come out. I just kept getting partial glimpses, but no details. I set the scope on it and waited for about 10 minutes, when it suddenly popped up and landed on the tops of a few strands of grass. It was a beautiful male Bobolink! It stayed in the open for nearly an hour, never singing once. Occasionally, it gave a '!
chuck'
sound, that was often answered by male Red-winged Blackbirds, which made a very similar sound. It was the only one that showed that afternoon, and it never sang. Other species seen were: Vesper Sparrow (very common here), Great Blue Heron, American Goldfinch, lots of swallows (3 species), Red-tailed Hawk, Rufous Hummingbird

I then drove up to Umtanum Rd. (the sign actually says 'Umptanum', but anyway...) to look for Common Poorwills. I arrived after 8:00 pm, which is an awful time to bird that road while driving from the Ellensburg side, in that one is looking into the sun much of the time, really reducing visibility. I had birded Umtanum pretty extensively last year, and was mostly there for the C. Poorwills anyway, so I didn't make many stops along the way. The birds that I managed to see while driving to the far end of the road, where the Poorwills are, included: Killdeer, Bullock's Oriole, A. Kestrel (eating a tasty rodent), Western Meadowlark, Mountain and Western Bluebird, California Quail, Western Wood Pewee, American Goldfinch, Red-naped Sapsucker, Common Nighthawks (more than a dozen and being very vocal), Northern Flicker, Western Kingbird, Cedar Waxwing, Gray Flycatcher. Around 10:00 pm, the C. Poorwills started to call. Unfortunately, they never showed themselves, however, but !
it was
still neat hearing them. Their call sounded more like 'Poor Will'um' to me. I grew up on a farm on the East Coast with Whip-poor-wills often calling on summer nights. I was surprised at how much softer the C. Poorwill call is.

June 20,

Gingko Petrified Forest SP visitor center: Say's Pheobe (very plaintive call), Western Kingbird, Bullock's Oriole

Various stops and trails along Dodson Rd., Columbia Basin area: Great Egret, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Killdeer, Western Meadowlark, Wilson's Snipe, Marsh Wren, Common Yellowthroat, Mallard, Caspian Tern (3 of them), C. Raven and A. Crow, Ring-necked Pheasant, Cinnamon Teal, Bullock's Oriole, American Coot, Double-crested Cormorant, Pied-billed Grebe, Gadwall, Willow Flycatcher. My main target species here was Black-necked Stilt, which I had not seen in Washington before. I found at least 6 of them in the marsh near the parking lot off of Frenchman Hills Rd. Two of them were flushed by a hunting N. Harrier. They tried to chase it away, but it swooped momentarily out of sight among the reeds, then came back up with something in its talons. It landed out of view to eat its catch, so I couldn't see clearly what it had caught, but I'm afraid that it might have been a stilt chick. Also in the pond by the parking lot were 2 Wilson's Phalarope.

My last stop was Fort Simcoe SP, just north of the Yakima Reservation. I had never been here before, and was so impressed with the place, that I stayed for several hours. It was my favorite birding location of the trip, and is definitely worth a visit if birding in the Yakima area. Large Garry Oaks dominate the park, but there are also lots of fields and brushy areas as well. The springs near the entrance to the park were particularly birdy. Species that I found here included: lots of Lewis's Woodpecker. They are very active and common here. I watched a couple appear to be fly catching, one of which landed with a huge cicada in its beak and then proceeded to call for a few minutes before eating it. Another Lewis's Woodpecker landed near it, as did 3 Bullocks's Orioles and some E. Starlings, all watching it like a captive audience. I found a couple of Western Kingbirds and followed them to a nest, which was set high on a light pole. One of them caught a large red dr!
agonfly
, which it tried to feed to one of the 3chicks in the nest, but it was too big. It finally turned the insect so that it was no longer sideways, then shoved it down one of the chick's throat, which was successful. Other species seen here included: Yellow-breasted Chat (my other target bird; singing like crazy from the small wetland area, House Wren (nesting in the Garry Oak cavities), Western Meadowlark, American Goldfinch, Lazuli Bunting (very common and quite vocal), 1 Black-chinned Hummingbird sitting on a twig just a few feet from the Chat, Spotted Towhee, Western Wood Pewee, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Flicker.

Seen while driving: Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, Osprey.

Well, now it's time to mow. Good birding,

Lonnie Somer
Olympia, WA
wheelermombi at comcast.net<mailto:wheelermombi at comcast.net>