Hi Tweeters,

Yesterday Bill and I left Seattle before 6 am to spend as much
time as possible birding in eastern Washington. It was a wonderful mild,
almost windless day, so good birding opportunities abounded. We stopped
first at Snoqualmie Pass. There at the public restrooms and snack bar they
now have hummingbird feeders (if they've been there before, I didn't notice
them). So our first notable bird of the day was a RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD. We
stopped at the bridge over the Teanaway River on Hwy. 10 but didn't find the
Dipper. Lots of other birds, including the fairly reliable WOOD DUCK, were
in and around the large pond there. We then angled through Thorp and across
I-90 and the fields over to Umtanum Road. On the way we heard and saw
several SNIPE at the intersection of Cove and Robinson Canyon Roads.

This may have been the earliest spring day we have ever
attempted to bird Umtanum Road, so we were aware that we might not see
everything we usually see. We stopped at the thickets going up the hill on
Umptanum Road. Where we usually find Lazuli Bunting, Bullock's Oriole, and
Yellow-breasted Chats, we found lots of warblers: NASHVILLE,
YELLOW-RUMPED, ORANGE-CROWNED, and one beautiful TOWNSEND'S WARBLER. We
also heard WILSON'S WARBLER. At the top of the hill the bluebirds were back
in force, both MOUNTAIN and WESTERN dodging away from the nest boxes as we
drove by.

We walked a ways down the trail at Umptanum Creek, one of my
favorite walks. We found RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, HERMIT THRUSH, WESTERN
TANAGER, and CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD and then, as it was getting warmer, we saw
first RED-TAILED HAWK, then a male NORTHERN HARRIER, followed by a TURKEY
VULTURE and a SWAINSON'S HAWK. The Swainson's drifted back and forth
across the tree tops along Umptanum Creek, went up and down the valley. I
don't think we've ever had such a prolonged, good look at this bird.

We then headed down Schnebley Coulee to the Gingko SP overlook
at Vantage. On the way we found a few WESTERN KINGBIRDS, SAGE THRASHERS,
and two LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES. The Columbia River was glassy calm and we saw
one BARROW'S GOLDENEYE, some BUFFLEHEADS, SCAUP, and distant WESTERN GREBES
and CASPIAN TERNS. Up in the trees by the visitors center, we found the
usual SAY'S PHOEBE, many more warblers, one EVENING GROSBEAK, and quite a
few vireos. We're pretty sure we were seeing both WARBLING VIREOS and
RED-EYED VIREOS. Our only previous views of Red-eyed Vireos were distant
and identification assured because of their song. Here we had perhaps
twenty silent vireos at close quarters. Some seemed really plain and some
had contrasting dark caps and distinct eye stripes.. All the warblers here
were silent too. About equal numbers of Yellow-rumped and Nashville (I've
never seen so many Nashville Warblers in one place) and quite a few
Orange-crowned.

Missing all day long were very many flycatchers. We heard no
Western Wood-pewee, nor saw any Empidonax flycatchers. We also couldn't
locate any COLLARED DOVES. At this point we ran out of steam and turned
back to Seattle.

Charlotte Byers, Seattle