Mid-Columbia Fisheries and Enhancement Group is looking for volunteers to help with restoration at two different locations Friday as part of its Summer of Stewardship program.
The group of volunteers meets every Friday to irrigate, mulch, pull out weeds and replace plants at various areas around Ellensburg. This week, they'll meet at Wilson Creek near Central Washington University, between the Student Health and Counseling Center and Black Hall, and at the Reecer Floodplain, with parking in the lot right across from Enterprise Lane.
Volunteers will be irrigating and weeding from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. For more information, go to midcolumbiafisheries.org or contact Malena Niece at adoptastream@midcolumbiafisheries.org.
A birder from Vancouver spent a couple of hours at the Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge this week and was rewarded with a good mix of birds. Some of the highlights of his visit included 13 species that offered him good photo opportunities, which culminated in great photos of western wood-pewee, willow flycatcher, eastern kingbird, black-billed magpie, gray catbird, a juvenile American robin, cedar waxwing, lark sparrow, song sparrow, which was also observed feeding young, Bullock's oriole, red-winged blackbird, brown-headed cowbird and the gorgeous little lazuli bunting. He also noted mallard, mourning dove, northern flicker, American kestrel, a juvenile common raven, black-capped chickadee, Bewick's wren, and house finch.
A Richland birder spotted a pacific loon, in full breeding plumage on Rimrock Lake near the Silver Beach Resort. This is a very rare sighting for this time of year in Yakima County. She also noted western wood-pewee, warbling vireo, chestnut-backed chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch and Cassin's finch.
A morning outing to the White Pass campground at Leech Lake turned up Vaux's swift, rufous hummingbird, spotted sandpiper, osprey, red-breasted sapsucker, olive-sided flycatcher, common raven, red-breasted nuthatch, American robin, chipping sparrow, orange-crowned warbler, Audubon's yellow-rumped warbler, Wilson's warbler and western tanager.
Email bird sightings to kdturley@embarqmail.com and be sure to like The Yakima Valley Audubon Society on its Facebook page or visit yakimaaudubon.org.
SATURDAY: The Hard Core Runners Club will host its weekend fun run of three to six miles with all paces and abilities welcome. Meet at 8 a.m. in the Yakima Greenway’s Gleed parking lot, at the Northwest corner of Highway 12 and Old Naches Highway.
WEDNESDAY: The Hard Core Runners Club will meet for its weekly fun run at 6 p.m. at Franklin Park, where they run either on the track or on the street.
WEDNESDAY: All riders are welcome for a weekly community group mountain bike ride at 6:30 p.m. at the Rocky Top trails on Rocky Top Road in Yakima. The rides will continue as long as daylight and weather permit. All riders must have a helmet, bike and tire repair kit. For more information, contact yakimavalleymtbteam@gmail.com.
THURSDAY: The Cascadian Pathfinders will hike six miles with 300 feet of elevation gain along the hillside following Bumping Lake off of Highway 410, Green Trails map 271. Call Lynne at 509-952-5059 or Betsy at 509-949-3985 for meeting time and place.
Reach Luke Thompson at luthompson@yakimaherald.com.
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