The drive eastward started out normally enough around noon, with pigeon, robin and crow, (yawn), the first birds to be noted, but things decidedly improved over the next 12 hrs as Sue and I gradually explored areas from Cle Elum to Umtanum Rec. Area to our final stop, Milepost 4 on Canyon Rd. in Yakima Canyon.

Soon, both of us were exclaiming continually, about how beautiful and exciting what we were seeing and hearing, were. We both got to add a "life bird" or 2 to our own lists, but the thrill of discovery and the gorgeous weather easily trumped 'listiness' as the best aspects of this 'heavenly' day (and, I must add, this all had no 'angel' claiming to have influenced how the day went !).

Here is our trip list, chronologically by site:

Snoqualmie Pass
American Crow
Common Raven
American Robin

Cle Elum Ponds
White Crowned Sparrow
Swainson's Thrush
Common Merganser (females)
Rock Pigeon
Turkey Vulture
Osprey and nest
Rough-winged Swallow
Western Wood Pewee
Cedar Waxwing
Song Sparrow
Black-capped Chickadee
Yellow Warbler

Cle Elum to Ellensburg
Bullock's Oriole?
Veery
House Wren
Black-billed Magpie
European Starling
(no American Dippers seen at Teanaway bridge, but got reports that they were there earlier)

Umtanum Rec. Area
Great Blue Heron
Brewers Blackbird
California Quail
Mountain Bluebird
Western Bluebird
Ruffed Grouse and 5 fledglings
Yellow-breasted Chat
House Finch
American Kestrel
Cliff Swallow swarm around suspension bridge

Canyon Rd MP15.5
Bald Eagle family w/ 3 almost-fledging flappers

Canyon Rd MP14
Cliff Swallow Colony
Barn Swallow
Great Blue Heron
Common Nighthawk

Canyon Rd MP10
Prairie Falcon nest (empty and not looking used)

Canyon Rd MP5-ish (county line)
Golden Eagle nest

Canyon Rd. MP4
Prairie Falcon adult at eyrie (too dark to see the one chick)
Canyon Wren (heard)
Rock Wren (heard)
Common Nighthawk (seen and heard)
Common Poorwill (heard)
4 Barn Owlets in opening of cave nest (hissed for the hour we were there - parent didn't come in with prey while we were there
(lots of stars visible in sky, including constellations Orion, Casseopaeia, Big Dipper, etc.)

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Helpful additions to our ID exercises, were a car library, an iBird Pro, our own excellent birding skills, but not-so-much our memories of past - heard bird songs or calls !

Photos from this trip can be viewed at: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjZ3SiQU


Barb Deihl
Matthews Beach Neighborhood - NE Seattle
barbdeihl at comcast.net

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