Tweets,

I drove up to Tuquala Lake at the head of the Cle Elum River yesterday to check out the upper valley's birds and wildflowers. FR 4330 is open but in its usual rough shape, and there is still snow under the trees around the highest meadows at the end of the road. Trilliums are in bloom at road's end and Glacier Lillies are beginning to bloom in the meadows and open stands of timber along the river.

The trip wasn't real birdy, but I was surprised at the large number of Western Tanagers in the forests through which I drove. The treat of the day was suddenly hearing the "beant, beant" call of Common Nighthawks overhead. Two or three of them were circling above my car for a few moments, and then they were gone.

In a few weeks, the upper Cle Elum River valley should be a riot of wildflowers.

Jim Owens
Mercer Island