Another trip to central Washington

 

Sarah and I hit the road to explore Central Washington once again. As you can see in the photos, the weather was darker and damper than we expected. During breaks in the rain, however, we found some good birds in the area's canyons and parks.

Oak Creek Canyon had oak trees, a wildfire site, and ponderosa pines. This is a perfect combination for Lewis's Woodpeckers and we saw plenty of them.

 

 The basaltic cliffs of Yakima Canyon are great nesting sites for Prairie Falcons. We found a fledgling calling from the top of an outcropping.

 My favorite area was Cowiche Canyon near the town of Naches.We tasted wines at the top of the canyon and then hiked downhill to find a very vocal Canyon Wren. As we hiked back to the winery, a Common Nighthawk called from the sky and made vrooming sounds with its wings.

The best bird of the trip was a Veery singing at Blackbird Island Park in the crazy town of Leavenworth. This small thrush, which neither of us had seen before, has a beautiful song and a limited distribution in the Northwest.We performed a small dance in celebration.
Once again, we had a great time exploring the towns and landscapes of central Washington. I hope to return next summer or earlier.