On Wednesday I planned to make a trip to Wenas campground followed by a hike
in either Robinson or Umptanum (Umtanum? None of the signs seem able to
decide....) canyons. My intention was to be at Wenas by around 9.30, spend a
few hours birding there and then head on.



It didn't quite go as I'd thought - between a flat on Umptanum Road and some
self-contradictory directions to Wenas, I didn't actually get there till
about 11.15am. My list of target birds was red-naped sapsucker, white-headed
woodpecker, Cassin's vireo, pygmy nuthatch and dusky flycatcher, and I
didn't have a whole lot of success. I'd obviously missed most of the
morning's birdy activity, and the breeze arrived about an hour after I did,
making things worse.



There was plenty of Empidonax activity around (they were probably the most
common birds I sighted, along with mourning doves), but none of the others
were inclined to show. I tried walking the area looking for birds. I tried
sitting in a glade for lunch waiting for the birds to come to me (that
tactic was decidedly pleasant, but netted me a robin and a house finch). I
spent a lot of time watching birds that I could very easily have seen back
west - flickers, cowbirds, cedar waxwings and towhees were prominent. Of my
target list, I only got dusky flycatcher as a strong suspicion based on
habitat and behaviour, not a certainty as not a single one of those Empids
was willing to open its mouth and say anything.



The canyon trip was lost to lack of time, but the day wasn't exactly a
complete failure. I found a gorgeous male chipping sparrow just before I
left Wenas, not one of my specific targets but still a new bird. The length
of Umptanum Road was alive with bluebirds, mostly westerns but with a few
mountains mixed in for variety - those nesting boxes all along the fences
were certainly being put to good use, and some young birds were already
fledged. There were many California quail en route, including a pair in the
road surrounded by an enormous brood of 12 or 13 fuzzball quail-lets. I saw
one magnificent male Audubon's yellow-rumped warbler at Wenas, with the most
striking colours and markings the bird can possess. I also found a Bullock's
oriole in sagebrush along Umptanum Road - admittedly across the road from a
riparian spot with a couple of taller trees, but still a slightly odd sight!



So yesterday I tried again, heading off for Robinson canyon, given the
recent bird sightings from there I'd seen posted to the list. This time the
drive out was uninterrupted, and I made it there before 9am. A canyon wren
serenaded me from just inside the gates as I strapped on my hiking boots,
one for the year list that had evaded me in earlier trips to the Vantage
area. A mountain biker headed out as I kitted up, leaving me the canyon to
myself.



It was a little breezier than Wednesday, but reasonably sheltered in the
canyon, so the birding was pretty good. Despite the forecasts of mostly
cloudy, I arrived under near-cloudless skies and spent the trip basking in
sun. I didn't find the gray catbirds reported last weekend - the only birds
chattering and mewling from the bushes were towhees. I did find plenty more
Empids - lots of Pacific-Slope and Dusky for certain, as some of them were
happy to sing for me, but there may have been others. I also picked up a few
Cassin's vireo, and two beautiful male Calliope hummingbirds, as well as a
rufous. Other birds around included western kingbird, warbling vireo,
Bullock's oriole, black-headed grosbeak, mountain chickadee and the
ubiquitous mourning doves. But once again flickers put themselves forward as
the sole representatives of the woodpecker family - two trips to promising
locations, and not a red-naped sapsucker in sight. I'll find them yet, I
swear....



On the trip back down from noon onwards, the wind really picked up into
gusts that made further birding difficult work, and while the Empids were
still around, they'd all stopped singing as at Wenas - obviously the
mornings are the time for definitive ID! But there was still so much
wildlife around on show - garter snakes, large numbers of dragonflies, and
if leptidoptera were my big thing, I'd have been in heaven both days. How
many places can you stand with five different species of butterfly within
two feet of you? I also saw a fluffy young coyote pup that bounded off the
trail as I approached, presumably heading back towards mum in the bushes.



As I left, I handed the canyon over to a couple who'd just parked up ready
for a camping trip - it was relay day at Robinson, it seemed. I hope they
enjoyed it as much as I did.



Louise Rutter

Kirkland