Yesterday I made several stops in the Roslyn and Cle Elum areas
checking out a few locations that were new for me. I relied heavily
on "A Birder's Guide to Washington" (Opperman) for some of the
locations. My first stop early in the morning was the WDFS fishing
access on Hundley Road, exit 78 off of I-90 (Opp. page 272). The
place was quite serene this early in the morning, just the sound of
birds and the rushing of the river. All of a sudden I heard a loud
knocking right behind me and almost jumped ten feet and dropped my
binoculars. Turns out a PILEATED WOODPECKER had decided to start
pounding on a hollow snag. That's one way to get the adrenalin
flowing early in the morning. Some additional birds at this sight
included:

Evening Grosbeak - about 6 or so, the first of many, many on this trip.
Warbling Vireo - also the first of many
Vaux's Swift - just one seen
Yellow Warbler
Pileated Woodpecker
Veery - heard only

My next stop was at the Bullfrog Pond, exit 80 off of I-90 (Opp.
page 272), where I parked at a pull off on the east side of the road
and walked over to the pond. I had my first NASHVILLE WARBLER of the
trip at this sight and also a VEERY coming out for a nice viewing. A
few of the birds at this location included:

Vaux's Swift - a couple seen
Black-headed Grosbeak
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Veery
Osprey
Western Wood-Pewee

I then headed into the town of Roslyn to see what the birding would
be like and had EVENING GROSBEAKS everywhere. If anyone needs to see
these birds this is the place to go at this time. There was one
feeder and its surrounding trees that must have had close to 100 birds
around. I also birded the unmarked road to the north of town (Opp.
page 272), although it is now paved and not a dirt track. Additional
birds seen at these locations were:

Red Crossbill - a pair in a Ponderosa Pine
Evening Grosbeak - all over the place
Black-headed Grosbeak
Pine Siskin
Rufous Hummingbird
Chipping Sparrow
Dusky Flycatcher
Cassin's Vireo
Nashville Warbler
Western Wood-Pewee
White-crowned Sparrow - heard calling

I continued on north of Roslyn until I reached Cle Elum Lake and
stopped at Wish Poosh Campground and also drove up Forest Service Road
#4305, which is about 5 miles each way (Opp. page 274). Along the
forest service road I heard OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER calling at two
locations, also I happened upon a BLUE (SOOTY) GROUSE which was
standing along side the road, but vanished very quickly. A few
additional birds seen included:

Townsend's Warbler
Cassin's Vireo
Turkey Vulture
Western Tanager
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Western Wood-Pewee
Nashville Warbler
Warbling Vireo
Sooty Grouse
Vaux's Swift
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's)
House Wren

I then continued on the road heading north to Salmon la Sac
Campground where I had hopes of seeing BLACK SWIFT. I stayed about
1/2 hour on the bridge at the campground just watching the VAUX'S and
BLACK SWIFTS flying nearby, sometimes below eye level - I could have
stayed much longer. Also, there was a pair of HARLEQUIN DUCKS working
their way up the river. Some more of the birds at this sight were:

Western Tanager
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's)
Spotted Sandpiper
Chipping Sparrow
Vaux's Swift
Black Swift
Yellow Warbler
Western Wood-Pewee
Harlequin Duck
Chestnut-backed Chickadee

At this point I decided to head to Cle Elum and my first stop was
the WSDW fishing access off of HWY 970, which is a continuation of
Airport Road across the highway (Opp. page 276). This sight was great
for watching the WESTERN TANAGERS hawking insects over the water.
There were about 15 birds flying back and forth out over the water
getting their afternoon meal, a great sight. At this location I also
had a single COMMON NIGHTHAWK flyover and a RED-EYED VIREO working the
trees near the parking area. Some additional sightings included:

Veery
Northern-Rough-winged Swallow
Yellow Warbler
White-crowned Sparrow
Western Wood-Pewee
Black-headed Grosbeak
Cedar Waxwing
Common Raven

I then made a quick stop at the Teanaway Bridge on highway 10 and
and located a nesting AMERICAN DIPPER which was a treat. Also seen
here were:

Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's)
Western Tanager
Black-headed Grosbeak
Warbling Vireo

My last stops were a drive through the Swauk Prairie and up the
Teanaway Road (Opp. page 280) where I finally located WESTERN
KINGBIRD; and had a RUFFED GROUSE about 1 mile up the West Fork Road
of the Teanaway. Sightings in this area included:

American Kestrel
Turkey Vulture
Western Tanager
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's)
Western Kingbird
Western Meadowlark
Ruffed Grouse
Black-billed Magpie


Cheers and Good Birding;

Michael Fleming
Ballard, Washington
michaelfleming01 AT gmail.com