Hi Tweeters,

I spent the last few days visiting with a friend in Richland and doing a lot of hiking. He is not a birder and he usually had his dog along, so it was more socializing than birding, but I still did manage to see a good number of the east side species. Here is just a brief summary:

Chumna Natural Preserve along the Yakima River: This is one of the green belts in a largely arid region. What really struck me is that the plant community is mostly a hodge-podge of exotic species. Like so many places out that way, Russian Olive is very common, but so is Silver Maple and Mulberry (which at least had a lot of tasty berries). Despite that and the fact that we were there during the heat of mid-day, it was still very birdy. Among the many species that we saw were 1 YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT (singing away on top of a bush out in the open) and just a few yards farther down the trail, 2 GRAY CATBIRDS calling back and forth, several LAZULI BUTINGS, WESTERN KINGBIRDS, a couple of EASTERN KINGBIRDS, and BULLOCK'S ORIOLES.

We hiked along several of the riverside parks near the convergence of the Yakima, Snake, and Columbia Rivers. Bateman Island was one of these. One large tree in particular was fruiting (I'm not sure what species it is) and was covered with BULLOCK'S ORIOLES, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS, A. ROBINS, and CEDAR WAXWINGS. A SHARP-SHINNED HAWK came flapping by, causing them to make an even louder ruckus. Across the water at the far end of the island were several WHITE PELICANS, WESTERN GREBES, and CASPIAN TERNS. As with most of the locations that we went to, WESTERN KINGBIRDS were everywhere. At one location, between Clover Island and the 'Cable Bridge' over in Kennewick, there was the largest number of BANK SWALLOWS that I have ever seen, sitting on the telephone wires and flying around. A young BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON was stalking among the reeds nearby.

We also went to the eastern portion of the Hanford National Monument. At the first parking lot, a trail leads downs to a cluster of trees that were loaded with chattering BULLOCK'S ORIOLES. At the second parking lot, we were treated to a low fly-over from a pair of SWAINSON'S HAWKS. One was the lighter morph and the other was much darker. Suddenly, they starting calling back and forth, and a third Swainson's Hawk (also a light morph) came soaring in. The original lighter colored hawk flew above him, then folded its wings and swooped down at the third hawk like a falcon. The intruder also folded back its wings and went into a dive, before flying away.

On the way home today, I hiked into Cawiche Canyon just outside of Yakima. It was my first time there, and even though I didn't arrive until almost exactly at noon (it felt like an oven in there), it was still very birdy. Near the first bridge, I encountered a large flock of CALIFORNIA QUAIL and 1 chubby YELLOW-BELLIED MARMOT. Between the first and third bridges, I heard 2 YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS (both remained in hiding) and saw a third, very vocal chat that popped out of the dense vegetation by the side of the creek. I didn't encounter any more after the third bridge. A. ROBINS were everywhere, including a large number of spotted juveniles. Several LAZULI BUNTINGS were singing from the tops of trees throughout the valley and there were a lot of chattering BULLOCK'S ORIOLES about as well. Just beyond the fourth bridge, I began to encounter ROCK WRENS. They were particularly visible where the valley becomes quite narrow. A few were scampering about in the open, callin!
g back
and forth and 1 stood on a rock singing. I saw them on and off until the sixth bridge, or so. After the sixth bridge, I began to encounter CANYON WRENS. A few were singing their haunting songs loudly from the valley walls, but some were much closer to the base of the cliffs, dashing around about on the rocks, and calling to one another with the buzzy type of call. I stood in one place for at least 10 minutes watching 4 of them, and in addition to their buzz calls, they sang to one another in their descending song, but very softly; almost as if they were whispering to one another. After hiking to the eighth bridge, I turned around and made my way back to the car. Next time, I'm going to hike the valley early in the morning.

Good birding,

Lonnie Somer
Olympia, WA
wheelermombi at comcast.net