In his earlier message, Bob Schmidt says he will be taking visiting
friends of his around Eastern and Central Washington next weekend and
asks for suggestions for places to go, but is concerned about:

1) Fires

2) Drought

3) Hunting season

4) Possible change of weather

5) Perceived lack of rare bird sighting and other information from the
central part of the state over the last few weeks.


I have a few suggestions:

1) Fires. This Web site gives up-to-date information about the fires:

http://www.nwccweb.us/index.aspx

This Web site gives up-to-date information about smoke:

http://wasmoke.blogspot.com/

Here is a report on air quality for today from this Web site:

*Cashmere- Unhealthy*
*Cle Elum-Good*
*Entiat- Unhealthy forSensitive Groups*
*Pateros -Good*
*Quincy -Moderate*
*Trout Lake-Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups*

Don't despair, because a Washington Dept of Ecology press release at
this Web site has the title: " Computer modeling shows wetter weather
may help clear smoke next weekend/"
/*//*
2) Drought. Don't know anything about that.

3) Hunting Season. From Washington Dept of Fish and Wildlife Web site:
"Some of Washington's most popular hunting seasons get under way in
October, when hunters take to the field for deer, ducks, geese and other
game birds." Because of the fires, the state has closed some wildlife
areas temporarily but then reopened them. You can follow that at:
http://wdfw.wa.gov/weekender/

Several years ago, some friends of ours visited in early October and we
wanted to do some hiking in the Liberty area, but were concerned about
hunting. We bought inexpensive orange fleece vests for each of our
guests and ourselves and felt much safer as a result. You can pick them
up at most outdoor or Army-Navy surplus stores, such as the one at 85 S.
Lander St in Seattle, across the street from Sears.


5) Perceived lack of rare bird sighting and other information from the
central part of the state over the last few weeks.

You can check out recent sightings for any location you want at:

http://birdingwashington.info/dashboard/


A good Web site in general for birders visiting the state is at:

http://birdingwashington.info/