Text by Andy and Ellen Stepniewski

Birders traveling on I-82 south of Yakima will find gray catbirds and other birds of riparian woodland at the Donald Road Fishing Access (US Army Corps). This site is 10 minutes south of Yakima. Dense riparian growth along the Yakima River and its nearby sloughs attract many birds.

From Yakima, take I-82 east to Exit 44. Turn right (south) and go 200 feet to an unmarked, paved ramp that descends steeply to a parking area. Take the entrance at the west end of the small parking area. Walk the sketchy path paralleling the slough to an opening (about 100 paces). Gray Catbird should be easy to find in the red-osier dogwoods everywhere in this area. Continue along the slough path another 400 paces and veer left on an unmarked path into the dense vegetation, crossing the slough on a set of beaver dams. With fortitude, several ponds and brush-choked tracts of dense riparian forest can be explored. A cobble-lined stretch of the Yakima River is off to the south a few hundred yards, too, but beware! Poison ivy is everywhere in this area. Also, if you wander off into the gallery forest, take very special care to note your return route, to avoid getting lost. Hunting is allowed here in season, too.

Birds noted here on several short visits (23 and 26 May; 5 and 12 June, 5 November in 2004) include:

For more birding, go north on Donald Road 0.3 mile to Yakima Valley Highway. Check the large old home on the north side of the highway here for nesting Vaux's Swifts. Turn left and go another 0.3 mile to East Parker Heights Road. Go right here and cross the irrigation canal. Turn left onto West Parker Heights Road. Go 1 mile to Windy Point Drive. Stop here (May-mid-August) and view the Bank Swallow colony on the embankment below. Go right on Windy Point Drive and follow signs uphill to "Windy Point Vineyards." Feeders outside the wine tasting room attract hummingbirds: Black-chinned are common from May through August, the more aggressive Rufous is present in July and August, creating havoc in the more tranquil Black-chin world. Anna's are rare from September through November. Calliope is also rare, occurring mostly from mid-April through early May.

Returning downhill from the wine tasting building parking lot, keep left on a gravel spur (0.1 mile) on the north side of a row of conifers. This leads to our home. More feeders for hummingbirds are around the house; Black-chins are common. Look also for black-headed grosbeak and Bullock's Oriole and migrants in season in the plantings about the yard. Northern Saw-whet Owls roost here November through early March in some years.