Sharon asked me to post her report to Tweeters.

Sharon Aagaard led five other birders and spent twelve hours Tuesday, April 7, on an Eastside Audubon field trip. When we left the Issaquah Tibbetts P&R lot at 6:15 a.m., it was 41 degrees and clear (NO rain or fog!). We enjoyed a beautiful spring day on the east side of the Cascades with temps in the low 70s and very light wind. We birded from I-90 Thorp Rd Exit 101,through the farm fields, up Umptanum Rd, to the Wenas Campground and back. We did a lot of driving, but also got to be out with the birds for long periods and walked about 5 miles, primarily in two areas: Umptanum Creek Falls and Wenas Campground. We saw and heard a total of 52 species, and got great, long looks at several, and were also thrilled to get to watch some pretty neat behavioral stuff too, some of which I'll mention below in the list of species we saw and/or heard:

WATERFOWL
Canada Goose
Mallard
Common Merganser
HERONS
Great Blue Heron
VULTURE
Turkey Vulture
RAPTORS
Osprey
we watched one for some time while it sat in a farm field at Kilmore Rd
there was an Osprey on the nest at Tibbetts Field in Issaquah when we returned at 6:15 pm (wasn't there in the morning at 6:15 am)
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
SHOREBIRDS
Killdeer
Long-billed Curlew
two in the farm field at Cove Rd
DOVES, PIGEONS
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
OWLS
Great Horned Owl
flushed the same one twice (sigh!) in Wenas Campground
one on a large nest in a cottonwood tree on Brown Rd
WOODPECKERS
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
White-headed Woodpecker
one on Wenas Rd
one in Wenas Campground
Northern Flicker
CORVIDS
Steller's Jay
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
SWALLOWS
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
CHICKADEES
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
several were feeding on the ground at Wenas Campground
NUTHATCHES
Red-breasted Nuthatch
one feeding on the ground
White-breasted Nuthatch
Pygmy Nuthatch
a nesting pair on Umptanum Rd, with one perched and the other in and out of the nest hole
two more seen at Wenas Campground
KINGLETS
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
this was the most commonly seen bird of the day-they seemed to be everywhere, and singing their wonderful song!
THRUSHES
Western Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
American Robin
MIMIDS
Sage Thrasher
STARLING
European Starling
WARBLERS
Yellow-rumped Warbler
mostly male Audubon's in bright plumage
SPARROWS
Spotted Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
BLACKBIRDS
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
FINCHES
Cassin's Finch (heard only)
House Finch
Red Crossbill
just one female....what attracted us was the sound she was making while cracking the pine cones....she was about 12 feet away, so close we could see the yellowish green feather pattern on her breast....and ohhhh, the looks we had when we put our binocs up! She stayed put for some time and gave us great looks.
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Sharon Aagaard
scormieraa001 AT hotmail.com