Subject: [Tweeters] Raptor Nestlings,
Date: May 8 16:40:26 2012
From: Barbara Deihl - barbdeihl at comcast.net
Perfect weather accompanied Ron Benshalom and me on our trip east of the Cascades, as we checked on progress made in the advancement of spring since we were last there 2 weeks ago. Not only were there lots of visible raptor young, but many other birds doing the nesting thing. Foliage is now painting the landscape in lovely soft hues of green, plus the shiny bronze of unfurling cottonwood leaves. The smells of the cottonwood and later, the sage, were mighty nice. A sensory feast, for eyes, ears (especially Ron's), nose and skin (the amount of warmth and lack of wind were in perfect combination). And the birds, well, no disappointment there (note extreme understatement)!
Here's a list of the stand-out birds and experiences and where we saw them
- at Suncadia, near Rosyln - White-headed Woodpecker making a nest hole
- at the Cle Elum city park on Second St - at least 100 Evening Grosbeaks - saw, and heard more throughout the day in other spots
- in riparian areas all over - Nashville Warblers (singing!) White-crowned Sparrows and Orange-crowned Warblers, with occasional calls of Yellow Warbler and Common Yellowthroat - Goldfinches, Yellow-rumped Warblers in abundance
- at Cle Elum Ponds - Pileated (female) in nest started 2 wks previous - also, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet seen
- at Swauk Crk/Teanaway R bridge on hiway 10 - a big (adult) dipper, 3 short-tailed (fledgling) dippers practicing dipping, floating and flying, and some little (nestling) dippers being fed in a nest under the bridge / 4 woodpecker spp seen there also - Hairy, Downy, Pileated and N Flicker as well as a Yellow-bellied Marmot and nesting N. Rough-winged Swallows
- along Hiwy 10 beyond the bridge - American Kestrel checking out a nest box on a ponderosa
- no Great Horned Owls seen at or near nest w. of intersection of Hiwys 10 and 97 - fledged ?
- Old Vantage Hiwy: Red-tailed Hawk nest sporting an adult and a couple of downy young - this was on the NW corner where the hiwy crosses Naneum Rd. ; Great Horned Owl nest a bit east of Kittitas Rd. (aka No. 81), north of hiwy near a house with a silo on the property with it - 2 big owlets and one adult - in plain view - this is the nest Andy Stepniewski mentioned last week - thanks, Andy :-) ; saw a Swainson's Hawk in flight, but no nest as per Andy S
- Yakima Canyon along Canyon Rd. and the Yak. River: branching GHOW owlets (4) in trees near nest we saw 2 wks ago about a mile downriver from Big Pines Rec. Area brown sign, in grove of trees right next to road, with room to pull off ; several Amer. Kestrels, incl. a pair on a half-snag next to a large deadtop ponderosa - this is .5 mi. downriver from Umtanum Canyon Rec. area ; lots of Cliff Swallows
- Umptanum Rd from 7-9:30 p.m.: Red-tailed Hawklets (3) still on the nest in the fir on your left just as you round the corner with the big arrows and the road starts to climb; 2 Western Kingbirds, Loggerhead Shrike, Say's Phoebe, both Mt. and Western Bluebirds, Calif. Quail, Western Meadowlarks singing, Brewer's Sparrow's buzzing, Vesper Sparrows calling, a GHOW hooting in the distance, Amer. Robins doing the evening song, AND, yes, at least one Short-eared Owl out hunting - we watched it fly, glide, drop down into gullies, disappear for awhile and show up again weaving about out against the hills on the east side of the road - very exciting ; One Amer. Kestrel on a tree next to a ramshackle house on your right as you are heading up the road - we saw 5 of them there 2 wks ago.
2 photo sets from the trip can be viewed on my Flickr acct.:
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjzdqN7S - set titled "In and Out of Nests in CWA - 5/6/12"
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjzdtcPL - set titled "Along Umptanum Rd - 5/6/12"
Captions give info and more !
Sure was a fun long day of birding - can't wait to go again :-)
Barb Deihl
North Matthews Beach - NE Seattle
barbdeihl at comcast.net
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