Hi Tweeters -

This Saturday & Sunday I led WOS conference trips to Swakane Canyon
--Overall, both trips were great fun, with piles of bright birds.
(Also nice to have sunny weather back in force)

Swakane Canyon, ~ 5 miles north of Wenatchee on Alt-97, is a great
eastern WA canyon w/ a riparian corridor running along its length.
The road is bumpy, but between last weekend and this one, the road
was graded and now would be passable by most cars [maybe not a
Prius]. The loop route for our trip from the Red Lion at Wenatchee up
to the ridgeline at Swakane, and out via Nahahum canyon to Cashmere
and back to Wenatchee was less than 40 miles in length -- great for
making constant short stops to explore and see what is around.

Birds:

Lazuli Bunting, Yellow-breasted Chat, Bullocks Oriole, Warbling
Vireos & Cedar Waxwing were present at almost every stop - at least
audibly.

At the entrance to Swakane, we started each trip w/ Gray Catbird ,
Canyon & Rock Wren, Say's Phoebe and our first looks at some of the
above birds. White-throated Swifts & Violet-green Swallows worked the
cliff-top here , presumably nesting. On Sunday, Brad Waggoner, en
route to a different WOS trip, led us to a pair of Peregrine Falcons
along the rocky cliffs just north of the Swakane entrance [visible
from the dam viewing pull-out ].

We heard and eventually saw a few Chukar from the cliff walls ~ 4
miles up the road from the Swakane entrance.

Woodpeckers: In addition to Northern Flickers, both days we were
happy to get looks at Lewis's Woodpeckers mid-way up Swakane. In
addition, we saw White-headed Woodpeckers both days -- Sunday we
eventually located a nest hole that was being regularly visited by a
male & female WHWO, presumably actively feeding young.


Warblers: Besides constant Chats, we also saw & heard: Yellow
Warbler, Nashville Warbler [pretty common], MacGillivray's Warbler, &
Yellow-rumped Warbler [Audubon's].

Flycatchers: Western Wood-Pewees were common throughout the day, and
Eastern & Western Kingbirds were present mostly at the low ends of
the canyon. We had Pacific-slope Flycatcher in the riparian areas
near the beaver ponds, and Willow Flycatchers at the 2nd & 3rd beaver
ponds. Dusky Flycatcher mostly up high along the brushy slopes, and
Hammond's Flycatcher in the conifers at the crest. At one point
Saturday, we were happy to have back to back Hammond's & Dusky views
& songs to be able to do some good comparisons.

At the upper ponds, on Saturday we had duelling Swainson's Thrush &
Veery [Sunday only the Veery cooperated]. Cassin's Finch, Pine
Siskins, Evening Grosbeaks & a couple Red Crossbills (Saturday only)
joined American Goldfinch & House Finch on the finch list. Calliope
Hummingbirds were pretty common, and we had a few Cassin's Vireo
singing. One Warbling Vireo nest w/ a singing WAVI on it was a fun
find both days.

Coming down Nahahum Canyon , we had Western Bluebirds at a nest box
Saturday. Sunday, we missed the bluebirds, but instead were rewarded
w/ a soaring Northern Goshawk [being harrassed by a Kestrel], a
Turkey Vulture , and heard-only Wild Turkeys.

Thanks WOS for organizing the conference -

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA