Lonnie Somers, Sherry and I did some Yakima County birding from Bethel Ridge Rd. to Toppenish and back to Oak Creek Canyon.
We had a mixture of heavy rain, light rain, heavy overcast with lightning, and partially clear skies during the day, and we tallied 82 species.
We made a somewhat quick stop at Hause Creek Campground. Always lots of good birds here in the morning. We had
YELLOW WARBLER
WARBLING VIREO
MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE
GRAY CATBIRD - 1
CASSIN'S FINCH
WESTERN TANAGER
WESTERN WOOD PEWEE
BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK

We then headed up Bethel Ridge Rd. for about 6 miles before heading back down. Once again, good birding from the road. We had
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER
CHIPPING SPARROW
CASSIN'S VIREO
DUSKY FLYCATCHER
WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER
PINE SISKIN
COOPER'S HAWK - 1
PYGMY OWL - 1
RED CROSSBILL
GRAY JAY
HERMIT THRUSH

We made another quick stop along Hwy 12 by Oak Creek. Here we had
WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS
GOLDEN EAGLE
WESTERN KINGBIRD
LEWIS'S WOODPECKER
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE
AMERICAN KESTREL
CEDAR WAXWING

We made our way to Toppenish where we birding Lateral C Rd. Our primary target bird was the Bobolink in which we were successful in finding at least one. Here we had
RING-NECKED PHEASANT
WILSON'S SNIPE
WILSON'S PHALAROPE - 1
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD - 1
BANK SWALLOW
EASTERN KINGBIRD
SORA
COMMON NIGHTHAWK
BOBOLINK - 1 (in the weedy field on the left side of the road just past Marion Drain Rd. Address 8521 Lateral C)
CINNAMON TEAL - 1 in a pond along Pumphouse Rd.

We then decided to try Hardy Canyon. By now it started to rain quite heavy in Toppenish, so we back tracked to Naches, hoping to move out of the way of rain squalls. No such luck, the rain continued to pound the area. We made it to N Wenas Rd. and were heading west towards the canyon, when we were forced to turn around by a gulley washer. A heavy stream of water poured down the mountain and across the road. A new plan was implemented. Get out of the rain. We headed back, and as we continued west, the rain subsided. Oak Creek Canyon seemed to be the best bet, so we headed up the road. Here we had
LEWIS'S WOODPECKER - lots
VAUX'S SWIFT
BALD EAGLE
RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD
LAZULI BUNTING
DUSKY GROUSE (I think this is dusky territory, if not, please let me know)

Additional birds noted during the trip are
EURASIAN-COLLARED DOVE - Naches
WESTERN GREBE - Rimrock Lake
AMERICAN DIPPER - Teiton River
BAND-TAILED PIGEON - Riffe Lake (Lewis Co)
BARROW'S GOLDENEYE - Dog Lake
OSPREY - Yakima

Dave Hayden
dtvhm AT nwrain.com
Centralia, WA