Hi Tweeters,

Bill and I spent 1 ? days birding the Ellensburg?Wenas?Cle Elum
area on June 3 and 4. We arrived at the Northern Pacific Ponds near Cle
Elum about 8 am. It was way colder than we had expected, but there were
plenty of birds about. For us, the most unusual bird at this location was a
Gray Catbird singing enthusiastically from a snag across the pond from us.
Bill even managed to get a passable picture. Next stop was Rinehart Park in
Ellensberg, along the Yakima River. This spot is usually good for one or
two birds, such as Kingfisher.

Moving up the canyon to the plateau above Ellensberg on Umptanum
Road, we encountered one pleasing bird after another. One swift, most
likely Vaux?s, Say?s Phoebes, Bullocks Oriole, and many Lazuli Buntings. On
the plateau itself there were the many usual Mountain and Western Bluebirds.
We also saw many Kestrels, and several Sage Thrashers. We?ve always missed
the thrashers here before, but maybe we were early enough to catch sight of
them this time.

We ate lunch at Wenas CG. By now it had finally warmed up so we
were comfortable outside our truck. Our last two visits there had been in
May and those times we saw the White-headed Woodpecker, all three
nuthatches, and other nice eastside birds. This time the campground was
very quiet except for many Western Wood-pewees. The best birds there were
several pairs of Townsend?s Solitaires.

On our return trip we stopped at the trail to Umptanum Falls and
hiked down a bit. Here we spotted on Nighthawk and had great looks at
Nashville Warblers and Black-headed Grosbeaks.

The next morning after the overnight rain abated, we drove
through the fields west of Ellensburg toward Thorp. We located a field of
several winnowing Wilson?s Snipes. They were just west of the intersection
of Cove Road and Robinson Canyon Road in the fields just before the
cemetery.

Overnight we had read Michael Flemings report on his birding
around Cle Elum. We returned via the bridge over the Teanaway River on Hwy.
10 and saw the two Dippers taking care of their young. We also found Wood
Ducks on the ponds just to the west. We then visited the Fishing Access
that is an extension of Airport Road and admired the many Western Tanagers
there. We also saw two beautiful Spotted Sandpipers and a mother Common
Merganser with a raft of her chicks out on the Yakima River. Bill also got
some good pictures of Turkey Vultures sunning themselves. Their red eyes in
their red heads are amazing!

After that we headed over the pass into torrential rain

Charlotte Byers, Seattle