Hello Tweeters,

I lead my annual woodpecker trip for the Yakima Valley Audubon Society on Saturday, June 11, to the Bethel Ridge area between HWY 12 and Bethel Ridge proper. We managed to tally 9 species of woodpeckers! We started the day with White-headed Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, and Black-backed Woodpecker in a burned area off of Bethel Ridge Road. From there, we worked our way up to the ridge stopping at a few patches of aspen along the way. Here we tallied Williamson's Sapsucker, Red-naped Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, and Downy Woodpecker. We tried at numerous places for American Three-toed Woodpecker, including the burn they were in last year along the road to the radio tower...but we were unsuccessful. On the way back to Yakima, we saw Lewis's Woodpeckers in the old burned cottonwoods near Oak Creek. It was a great day with great birds, great weather, and great people! I can't wait to do this again next year. Below is a list of all 42 species of birds we saw and/or heard (hope I didn't miss any).

Red-tailed Hawk
Turkey Vulture
Rufous Hummingbird
Pileated Woodpecker
Lewis's Woodpecker
White-headed Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Black-backed Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Williamson's Sapsucker
Red-naped Sapsucker
Western Wood Pewee
Dusky Flycatcher
Hammond's Flycatcher
Common Raven
Steller's Jay
Gray Jay
Clark's Nutcracker
Mountain Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Rock Wren
American Robin
Townsend's Solitaire
Western Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
Hermit Thrush (the most I have ever heard singing!)
Cassin's Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Nashville Warbler
MacGillivray's Warbler
Western Tanager
Chipping Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Black-headed Grosbeak
Cassin's Finch
Evening Grosbeak
Pine Siskin

Jeff Kozma

Yakima
j c r underscore 5105 at charter dot net