I, too, last evening, was very pleased to hear that melodious
upswirling song of the Swainson's Thrush, easily making its way to my
ears through the single-pane glass of the room in which I was, at the
time, going over a list of species seen on a delightful trip to
Central WA last Thursday, May 19. Didn't see or hear one of these on
that trip, but did have the pleasure of the company of several other
members of the same family (Turdidae - what a name!), namely Mt.
Bluebird, West. Bluebird, Townsend's Solitaire, and the ever-perky
American Robin - here I have to throw in another bird we heard and
saw, which certainly is a trickster with its robin-soundalike call,
the Black-headed Grosbeak, which is, as I write, singing out in my
woods here near Matthews Beach.

My personal favorites of the 53 bird species at least one of the five
of us either saw or heard, or both, at the Cle Elum Ponds, the Swauk
Cr. bridge area, the Hiway 10 cliffs, and Umptanum Rd up to and
including a short section of Wenas Rd:

Yellow Warbler, Hairy Woodpecker, Cliff Swallow, the 2 bluebirds,
Lazuli Bunting, Northern Harrier (3 or 4), Black-billed Magpie, Common
Raven family, Western Tanager, Bullock's Oriole, Downy Woodpecker,
American Kestrel, California Quail, Turkey Vulture (3 or 4), Red-
tailed Hawk (especially one on a nest) and my very favorite, the Short-
eared Owl (3 or 4). The rest of our list looks a lot like the list of
Ed Deal and several others who have recently been over east of the
Cascades. Noticeably missing target species were: Prairie Falcon,
Great Horned Owl, Common Nighthawk (anyone seen any of them yet?)

There were a few blacktailed deer and an elk seen along the road/
highway as we drove back to Seattle - nice to see, but potentially a
hazard - one did bolt across the road in front of a car ahead of us...

A fun and productive trip with a congenial group.

Barb Deihl

North Matthews Beach - NE Seattle

barbdeihl at comcast.net