January 18th - North Cowlitz Day Trip

Putting the 'owl' in Cowlitz

Imboden Road

I had actually been sitting around plotting and planning February trips, and the idea of a day trip to Cowlitz was in the back of my mind. Pushing ahead on some work projects carved out some space, and then. . . my Internet went down! I closed my laptop in the evening, looked at the clock and decided that if I couldn't work from home the next morning. . . Castle Rock must certainly have wifi!

Not wanting to give Xfinity too much time to fix things, I woke up at 3 something, checked the Internet, and started packing. Wanting to keep things as frugal as possible, this packing included my breakfast and lunch for the day. 

This trip was, owl-wise, not the best decision! The weather was a little drizzly, and a little windy as I slid into Cowlitz County. I'd entered along Imboden Road, which starts as Mandy Road in Lewis County. It was fun coming back to this spot! A few years back, when I'd adopted Lewis County for the year, Kevin Black and I had found a Tufted Duck on Mandy and had slipped into Cowlitz to look for a Ross's Goose that had been seen on Imboden. 

As noted, on this particular day, it was just barely too windy and drizzly to warrant a long stop in most places. Imboden eventually hits Barnes Road, and I continued South from there, stopping occasionally. Weather and geography by themselves are a challenging combination to understand. Add vegetation to that, and I'm sure there were reasons why I finally came to a pretty calm spot. 

With trees lining the East side of the road, I pulled off, got out, and went through my repertoire of owl calls, from small ones to big ones. Yahtzee! A Northern Saw-whet Owl (71st species for the year in Cowlitz) gave an alarm call from the trees above me. To be clear - this is enough for me. I know some folks aim for the visual, and make sure to hit the owls with a spotlight. For me, the conversation with an owl is enough, although I *do* wish that the conversation had ended with a normal call, rather than an alarm call!

I tried again along Barnes and found that it joined back up with I-5. 

Hm.

There were still some hours before daylight, so I decided to try a couple of spots up Highway 504. 

A couple of spots up Highway 504

Seaquest State Park was accessible, but it was a little breezy here, and not all that productive. There have been owl sightings (Great Horned, Barred, Northern Pygmy, Northern Saw-whet) at all times of the year, but I didn't think I'd get a response on this particular day, so I continued up to Canal Road. 

What a neat area! I did come across a few good places to pull over, listen, call. I also got to the end of the county road, with points beyond requiring a permit. There's also a sign here warning people to stay clear of the wild horses beyond the gate during foaling season. It was still quite dark, so there were no horses to be seen, but it definitely tickled the imagination to see this sign!

Boardwalk - Seaquest State Park

Canal Road is likely a spot I'll return to down the road, as several species of owls (all the ones above, as well as Western Screech and Barn) have been seen and heard along this road. I found some Canada Geese, Mallards, and American Wigeon on my way back to the highway, but nothing more. Seaquest did get a proper visit from me, now that the sun was up. I used the trails as an opportunity to shake out the legs. The one from the main parking lot swings out onto a boardwalk, taking the walker out over water, back onto land, and back and forth again. Common Mergansers, Double-crested Cormorants, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, American Crows, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets were all seen and heard as I walked. 

It was also nice to get a little history lesson on Spirit Lake:

One of many informative signs along the interpretive walk.

Castle Rock

Despite having only one new species to show for it, I thought this had been a nice little bit of exploration, so I returned to Castle Rock, found The Vault - Books and Brew, and got settled in for some coffee and work. 

What a nice little place! I had a good spot with a plugin, and there were many other seating options, including little couches, sprinkled around the bookstore. Local art was on sale throughout the store, in addition to the books themselves. I didn't take advantage of the baked goods, sandwiches, or ice cream on this particular day, but I will be sad if that turns out to be my last trip to the Vault!

As I worked, I also exchanged a few emails with Russ from Cowlitz County. He mentioned a few birds that could be found if I wanted to take a look on Canal Road. I nodded as I read the texts but thought that a trip down to Woodland was going to be unlikely. I don't know exactly how long it took me to realize. . . This was not "Dike Road" from Woodland, but "Canal Road" from Youwerejusttheredude. 

One of the birds that had been seen regularly was a Northern Shrike - a code 4 bird that is seen not-quite-annually in Cowlitz. I was in. 

I took this video from the streets of Castle Rock. I was confused, trying to figure out where the music was coming from?? It was from speakers ON the light posts.

Back to Canal Road

Wetlands at Canal Road, near Toutle

Pushing through past noon, I finally got packed up and went back up the Highway to Canal Road. As described, out at the very end of the road (near the horse gate I'd seen earlier) there was a field above a wetland. Scanning and trying different parts of the field finally paid off, with the Northern Shrike (72) visible on a branch, perched very close to three wild horses. 

What a treat to get to see both! I don't know how common it is to get a view of them, but they are the only herd of wild horses in the western half of the state. I read a little more about them here.

In addition to the Northern Shrike, I picked up a Pileated Woodpecker (73) here, calling in the distance, and easily heard despite a light wind, and the grumbling of chainsaws in the nearby hills. I tried the water for Northern Pintails and Eurasian Wigeon but came up empty. 

Continuing back on Canal, towards the highway, I passed a pretty amazing feeder. Here I got my first Red-breasted Nuthatch (74) and Steller's Jay (75) of the year. Mourning Doves, Dark-eyed Juncos, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Song Sparrows, and six (!) Spotted Towhees also used the feeder. 

Home

Satisfied with the quick trip down, I returned along I-5, sweeping up to Imboden Road again and finding a Hairy Woodpecker (76) along the river. 

Day 4 complete

Six more birds. Worth it? It was three code 1 birds, a code 2 birds (the Pileated Woodpecker), a code 3 bird (the Northern Saw-whet Owl), and a code 4 (the Northern Shrike). From all I can tell, 150 for the year in Cowlitz is not going to be too hard! So, I have started to look at the possibility of 175 for my life list. 175 birds would mean seeing all of the code 1, code 2, and code 3 birds, roughly. Each time I find a higher coded bird (like the shrike), it eases a little bit of the planning. 

More than that, I really liked getting a first look at the Toutle area. I'd never birded there before, and I mean. . . wild horses! So yes. This was a nice way to spend the day for sure.

January 3rd - Steigerwald and Woodland Bottoms

Steigerwald National Wildlife Refuge

Waking up on my gracious host's couch, I had vague thoughts of trying for owls in the morning. Fort Vancouver had a few recent reports of Barred Owls, and they are often pretty responsive. But sleep won the morning. I got a coffee fill in my brand-new Cowlitz County coffee mug and zipped out the door to meet Les and Cindy.

Steigerwald is a neat place that I'd visited before, sitting near Camas and Washougal along Highway 4. It also sat on the East end of Clark County, important because I hadn't started the day with a 100 percent plan on how to do the day. Wilson Cady, next door in Skamania County, had been letting me know of weather conditions to the east, and it wasn't looking super. I'd originally hoped to do a Skamania County big day, but the ice on the roads wasn't expected to melt until at least mid-morning. 

Even at Steigerwald, there was a wicked cold east wind coming down from the gorge - something that made birding a challenge. As I arrived, Cindy was already there, putting on layers. I thought about this as a King County birder. We really don't have to pay quite as much attention to the weather reports, but it felt like *all* of the Clark/Skamania birders I'd come across were keenly aware of it. I think the thing is. . . it's just so often bad weather. So, there are some windows where the weather is downright pleasant for birding, and other days where it just makes sense to stay socked in at home.

Les arrived and repeated the same process of putting on layers of insulation and wind-breaking fabrics. I kind of figured I was in for a cold morning! Steigerwald had gotten a bit of a remodel in recent years - all efforts to better support the wildlife, while still trying to provide good views for people walking the trails. Most of our walking was on an elevated berm, where we got slammed by the aforementioned east wind all morning!

Most of the day *looked like this*. Looking down
at flooded fields/shallow ponds, depending on how
those are even differentiated.

Our target birds were some uncommon birds - Horned Larks - and a downright rare bird - a Lapland Longspur. They'd been seen off and on over the last week or so (longer for the larks), and to be honest, I figured even if we missed them that a nice long walk with these two skilled, knowledgeable birders would be pretty productive!

Before even heading up to the top of the berm, we made a bathroom stop. This was not a bad idea on a morning when we would be putting in 4-5 miles of walking over the course of 5 hours or so. A few easy birds were seen and heard as light started hitting the parking area: Canada Goose (2), Cackling Goose (3), Northern Harrier (4), American Kestrel (5), American Crow (6), American Robin (7), and Common Raven (8).

From here, a short climb brought us on top of the berm, and oh my lord it was windy, and cold to boot. I'm sure the Horned Larks and the Lapland Longspur had been enjoying exactly this kind of weather, making them feel right at home. In most winters, these birds are more common on the Waterville Plateau in Douglas County, which can also get icy cold!

We turned scopes back towards the sewage ponds on the western edge of the refuge. It was full of dozens and dozens of ducks, including Northern Shoveler (9), Gadwall (10), American Wigeon (11), Mallard (12), Ring-necked Duck (13), Lesser Scaup (14), and Bufflehead (15), as well as the ever-honorary ducks - American Coots (16). A Great Blue Heron (17) took flight as we picked through the ducks, one of many seen during the morning.

So, there we are in the middle of these wind gusts, and Cindy calls out "Western Meadowlark! Did you hear it?" I paused, listened to more wind. "There it is again!" I listened to more wind. I didn't even hear anything that sounded like a bird. But they showed. I can't remember if it was a half-minute later, or five, but I'm just saying. I'm no expert on the occult but am nonetheless 95% certain that witchcraft was being practiced here.

And she speedwalks

Folks, this was NOT the last time this happened. I just skimmed our list, and there's like. . . 8 birds in there that Cindy heard an hour before I did. Not an hour. But LIKE an hour. My ears really aren't bad! In a typical group of birders, there are usually 1-2 other people who are picking things up at about the same time as me, and others eventually hear the birds. I've literally (and I hate the overuse of that word. I am using it for its intended use) never had the situation reversed like this. 

And not only that. Cindy would also call them out correctly. I hear things *very* well, but there are times where my brain goes right to the wrong bird on the first listen, "Flamingo!" might become "Black-capped Chickadee" once I have a better listen. I exaggerate, but. . . goodness. There's a lot of amazing birders out there with their own different sets of skills, but Cindy may be the best ears I've been with. There's one guy I'd need to drag into a windstorm for a proper test. That's the only reason I say "may". 

With that context in mind, now I can say "We found a half-dozen Western Meadowlarks. (18)" and you now have a better understanding of what I mean by "We".

The mud to the left of us had some shorebirds as well. Killdeer (19), and Least Sandpiper (20) called from the soggy gray expanse. A small flock of American Pipits (21) also landed on the shore below us. "Junk" birds continued to appear as well: European Starling, Red-winged Blackbirds (22), Song Sparrow (23), and California Scrub-Jays (24). We continued to watch Northern Harriers actively hunting, with a couple instances where they were hunkered down on the ground. By day's end, we had seen four of them, including both male and female birds.

As I typed "male and female", I will admit that I paused. Every once in a while, I see birds referred to as "male type" or "female type". I've tried to casually poke around on the Internet to find a nice explanation of this usage. I've come up blank. Help! What are people on about when they add "type"? 

(placeholder for the great explanation that is going to get emailed to me)

We scanned a flooded area around some trees, hoping for Wood Duck, finding Hooded Mergansers (25) instead, with a Downy Woodpecker (26) calling from the trees. A Red-tailed Hawk (27) flew overhead, and a Marsh Wren (28) popped up close enough for nice views on the right side of the dike.

Any time spent lingering in a good spot will usually result in more species observed. We were lingering big-time, as we really hoped that the Horned Larks and their special friend would show up on this first stretch of the dike. What we got instead: American Goldfinch (29), Dark-eyed Junco (30), Golden-crowned Sparrow (31), Spotted Towhee (32), and Northern Flicker (33). 

Les and Cindy have birded together quite a bit, and had some routines down pat, including eBirding as they went. So, each time we encountered a new flock of sparrows, things were getting added immediately and accurately. I say this because our list includes 72 Golden-crowed Sparrows! I try when I'm out on my own, but it was honestly a beautiful thing to see how they worked together to make this happen. With any new bird sighting, getting the data was nearly always the immediate priority. 

I will gladly beat the drum for good citizen science data. Mine is getting better. (Some readers just went wide-eyed, imagining me having more shortcomings as a birder than I presently do!) It's definitely one of my resolutions for the year.

We finally rounded the bend, with the Columbia now to our right, as well as the northern shore of Reed Island (which I just discovered is one of our state parks). The trees lining the bank held a nice mix of passerines, including Black-capped Chickadee (34), Golden-crowned Kinglet (35), Brown Creeper (36), Bewick's Wren (37), and Yellow-rumped Warbler (38). In the river itself, we had Double-crested Cormorants (39).

The trail here is not a loop. We bemoaned that fact, while also recognizing the value of that for the wildlife. But at one point, we did reach a fork in the road. One trail went inward, towards the center of the whole muddy/flooded/marshy/pond/whathaveyou, while the other continued along the Columbia. we moved inward. From a distance, Bald Eagles (40) were easy to pick out on distant trees, and we also got calls from a Pileated Woodpecker (41). 

Great Blue Heron planted on its real estate

We had several opportunities to see gulls over the course of the walk. A few of these simply got away from me - species-wise. Gulls are often a struggle, even if they're adults, sitting in front of me, wearing a name tag. In flight, even more so. A California Gull (42) did make a nice long glide over the refuge, and Cindy helped point out some of the features that help distinguish gulls in flight. Like the eBird rigor, figuring out gulls in flight a bit better is one of the goals/resolutions/growththingies for the year.

We'd seen swans from the entrance, but they were a little hard to get in the scope. Here we finally got a peek-a-boo view of one of the Tundra Swans (43). We also talked about the calls a little bit. My previous distinction: Trumpeter Swans sound like trumpets. Tundra Swans. . . don't. But I picked up a fun new one from Les and Cindy: "Tundra swans sound like they're having a Tun of Fun. Woooo! Woooo!!" 

Even typing it now gives me the giggles. That one will stick.

A Hairy Woodpecker (44) eventually was close enough for me to hear it. Again, I. . . I mean it's probably witchcraft. As we now had a better view of more of the central ponds (I'm going to give up on deciding when to distinguish a pond from a flooded field for now), we started picking up more species of ducks, including huge numbers of Green-winged Teal (45), and Northern Pintail (46).

Following the path inward, we had some good luck with sparrows. Many more Golden-crowned Sparrows, a ton of Dark-eyed Juncos, and a great view of a Lincoln's Sparrow (47). We also had a Savannah Sparrow here (48), although I didn't get a good view of one until later in the walk. We crossed a little bridge, with Great Blue Herons sometimes just plopped down in the middle of the trail, certain that we would turn around, rather than cross over their personal little puddle. 

As we entered more trees, we had Fox Sparrow (49), and much better views of Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers. Numerous American Wigeon gave us the chance to search for a Eurasian. We eventually reached the end of this trail and headed back. Cindy and I briefly explored a little further down the branch of the trail that went along the Columbia. She added more Golden-crowned Sparrows, and Meadowlarks to the list, but we never pulled out anything too strange, as sparrows go. 

While we came up empty on the big prizes, I got a great walk in, got to bird with some lovely people, and came away with 49 species on the year list for Clark. Some Rock Pigeons in Washougal made it 50.

Decision time in Washougal

HERE was the rub. I was trying to figure out why I was going into the Clark County year with a little less excitement than the other counties. 

Vancouver. 

Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma. . . and then Vancouver. That's your list of the most populous cities in the state of Washington. I know some people really don't like birding in King County because there's just so much traffic to deal with. 

Vancouver is smaller than Seattle, land-area-wise, but it's still pretty big! And 50 or so square miles of urban sprawl in a county that's only 600 or so square miles to start with. . . it's just different from the places I have been birding for a few years. Narrow it down more in the winter, when some roads just aren't open. I saw where some good birds had been found - Rough-legged and Red-shouldered Hawks, Acorn Woodpeckers, an American Tree Sparrow - and I just got claustrophobic thinking about having to go *through* Vancouver to get to them. 

Skamania was going to leave me too far away from home, and for not as many birds as I would have hoped, given the hour of the day. 

So, I bolted. I decided that adding some birds in Cowlitz County might be the best way to finish off the trip, leaving me closer to home as well, once the sun was headed down.

Woodland Bottoms

This place is one that I've visited a few times. It's easily accessed from I-5, and there are many places to pull off and scan huge fields. I just did a check, and following this trip, my life list from Woodland Bottoms had grown to 86 species. Over half of the birds on my Cowlitz life list had first been seen along these wide-open fields. By design, that should change this year. Getting to 150 species for the year is going to require a lot of moving around, especially when spring and summer come, opening up some high elevation areas. 

I have a funny relationship with these Really Good Spots! They bring in a lot of species to help me towards my goal. But part of the purpose of these years is to explore! Nonetheless, the lure of Sandhill Cranes and Rough-legged Hawks was enough to pull me in. 

I actually landed on a big flock of gulls very early on. Hopefully, even in these short few posts I've made, one thing has become clear - I struggle with gulls. This particular flock was close to the road in a flooded field and was almost entirely Short-billed Gulls (64 for the year in Cowlitz), accompanied by 5-10 Great Egrets. One larger gull in the group turned out to be a Herring Gull (65). The big chonky bill, pale iris, light mantle, pink legs, and dark primaries made this one an easy ID. Thank the lord.

I found no Rough-legged Hawks as I'd hoped, but Northern Harriers (66) were a nice addition. 

Taking the roads all the way to the Columbia, and heading North, I took it all the way to the end of the line. Common and Hooded Mergansers were in the Columbia. For one of the first times on the trip, I had to remind myself that the other side of the river was Oregon. In this case, the state line runs right through mid-channel. 

A productive spot

Heading back down along the Columbia, I found a nice pull-off. A couple of homes lined the "exit", along with a lot of trees, as it dropped down towards the Columbia. Here I got my first Varied Thrush (67) of the year, and my first Horned Grebe (68) as well. 

At another pull-off, looking at the Columbia, I saw a large mammal cresting in the water. Seal? Sea Lion? I was admittedly flat-footed, not having brushed up on my sea mammals before heading out! I did find an eBird report from the same day at another point on the river that reported an increase in these mammals, potentially following a smelt run. This was also given as a potential reason for the sightings of Brandt's Cormorants upriver as far as Portland.

Continuing through the loop, I came across more of the same gulls, more Red-tailed Hawks, Bald Eagles, and American Kestrels. After passing some small groups of Sandhill Cranes (69), I finally found about 200 of them together in a field. This was the place where I'd added these birds to my life list years ago. Woodland Bottoms is one of the reliable places to find them in Western Washington in the winters. I finished the day with one more addition, as a pair of Trumpeter Swans (70) flew overhead calling. 

70! Not a bad total for Cowlitz, given the way I'd spent the time - crunched in a single area for the CBC, and then crunched for time on this day. It will be interesting to see how weather, rare birds, and whim affect my plans for February! It seems pretty certain that I'll have to get to Skamania! Cowlitz just kind of feels on track. Wahkiakum is off to an amazing start. And Clark . . . Clark is at 50. I did like that I got hours and hours of walking done in Clark. Maybe that will be my play for the year: Only walk for birds. One stop each month in Clark - only walking in a really good spot. Then I can't complain about traffic as much!  We shall see. 

Day 3 completed

Camera update: I had my camera misbehaving last year, got it fixed, and had the same dang thing happen again. The shop where I'd brought it before will be repairing it for free, and we'll be right back to distant fuzzy pictures of birds!

January 2 - Big Winter Day in Wahkiakum County

The Cathlamet Hotel

I really am trying to be budget-minded with these trips, but it's always kind of fun to see what kind of hospitality and lodging is available in different parts of the state. So, with a day in Cowlitz County behind me, and a day in Wahkiakum ahead of me, I went ahead and stayed at the Cathlamet Hotel. It's tucked right on Main Street in town, and I am really looking forward to seeing that street when things are open sometime!

There are art galleries, a Mexican Restaurant, a pub, and a cafe at the very least. The hotel itself nearly could have called itself an art gallery! My room was on the second floor, and you could find art throughout the hallways, tucked in corners, in the kitchen area, in the library. As I got cleaned up and settled in the night before, I made a point of taking it in. Why not just pretend that admission to an art gallery was part of the bill for the night? 

Even so, it was reasonably priced for a weekend, my room was clean, and there were many options for breakfast the next morning. 

Wahkiakum County

This is the smallest county in the state. Additionally, the northern half of the county is basically just a bunch of gated-off logging roads, meaning that most of the good birding is found along the Columbia, with a few productive river valleys reaching North of the highway, and some farmland sprinkled around to the South. 

I have been very lucky to have spent time with birders in the county. It is easy to get to know a smaller county like the back of one's hand! Add to that some passion and skill, and there are almost always breadcrumbs to find on eBird to guide a person around the county. So, although I was going solo on this particular day, I had a fairly long list of birds I hoped to find. 

Cathlamet Wastewater Treatment Plant

There'd been a recent report of a White-throated Sparrow here, so right down the road seemed like a fine place to start. There's a nice little loop trail that crosses over Birnie Creek and back, right as it empties into the Columbia. I'm going to freely admit here that I had birds that confused me *heavily* through the morning with their calls. . . European Starlings (Bird number 1 for the Wahkiakum year list - a number I'll keep in parentheses throughout these blog posts whenever I first see a bird). 

I've heard starlings. I've heard them do a lot of varied calls, and I've heard them chattering in ways that are pretty familiar, including some familiar imitations. I've heard so many Killdeer calls from starlings, including many of them on this trip. But on this morning, they were doing an unfamiliar call as a flock, and repeating it. This was a pretty whistling call that a better birder than I confirmed the next day. 

It makes me wonder if they've got a dialect? Or maybe I just haven't been listening to starlings at all over the last 15 years. It's fun when birds teach you things in the field, anyway. 

This was otherwise a pretty ordinary stop. There's a lot of shrubby stuff along the creek, and it held quite a few sparrows, including Song Sparrows (2), Spotted Towhee (3), Golden-crowned Sparrow (4), Dark-eyed Junco (5), Fox Sparrow (6), and . . . not actually a sparrow, but we'll add it to the list, House Sparrow (7). No finches! This was a theme that carried out throughout the day. I *may* have seen some finches in flight, but on a kind of gray day watching at a distance through a car window, I was just left with none. A single Anna's Hummingbird (8) also used the brush as a safe resting spot.

American Crows (9) and Brewer's Blackbirds (10) disputed the ownership of some spilled grain in a parking lot. Other birds along the river (and in the Columbia itself) included Steller's Jay (11), Northern Flicker (12), Belted Kingfisher (13), Double-crested Cormorant (14), and Glaucous-winged Gull (15), as well as a nice mix of waterfowl: Gadwall (16), Mallard (17), Bufflehead (18), and both species of Scaup - Greater (19) and Lesser (20). 

A V of Cackling Geese flew past the waterfront as I got back to my car. I hadn't gone far, when I stopped at a feeder right there in town. This was a well-stocked feeder and was visited by both Steller's and California Scrub-Jays (21), more of the same sparrows, and a half-dozen White-crowned Sparrows (22). Before I left, some American Robins (23) dropped in to visit as well. 

Species number 24 was an American Kestrel on a wire as I went west on the highway.

Julia Butler Hansen - Steamboat Slough

It's a short drive up the road to Julia Butler Hansen Refuge. The 6000 acres have been set aside to protect the Columbian White-tailed Deer, which were only recently taken off of the endangered list. There is now a hunting season for them, albeit limited. The site is wonderful not just for the deer, but for a wide variety of wildlife, including birds, of course. It's hard to pin down exactly how many species have been found at the refuge; eBird has several different pinned hotspots there. But it's easy to say that it's over 200 species, because at least one of those hotspots is over that mark. 

On this particular day, I started on Steamboat Slough - the road that runs along the southern edge of the refuge. Right at the opening, I stopped to try for some birds in the thick patch of conifers. The first fun sighting was actually a coyote making its way shyly away from the road. I listened in and heard birds that I'm used to hearing in my own backyard - Chestnut-backed Chickadees (24), Black-capped Chickadees (25), Golden-crowned Kinglets (26), and Pacific Wren (27). 

I did have one unfamiliar chip note mixed in, and it turned out to be a bird that I encounter very infrequently in the winters - a Townsend's Warbler (28). Most of our warblers get out of town (out of state... out of country) for the winter months, but a few of these birds stick around. It was fun getting to see a splash of yellow this early in the year! 

I continued along the road, and honestly it was at a crawl. Part of me wishes that I had just left the car and walked the whole thing, but I some good walking in by day's end. Just past that bunch of trees, the Elochoman. . .River? Slough? Actually, what's the di... hang on. 

And yaknow. . . Wikipedia. Hm. I know that there are people who are scared to death of getting any information on there. I understand why. I guess over the years, I've gotten a feel for the *kinds* of things they might get wrong, and how much it might matter to be wrong on it. Sometimes I wonder if the entries are off due to people writing things with an agenda, or because they are writing about a complex topic, and missing the subtler points. 

For now. I'll believe that this is indeed what a slough is, accepting full responsibility if this is actually written by river deniers. That said, I'm not seeing on the maps how the Elochoman Slough is a slough as it's defined there. 

Common Mergansers in the Elochoman

But then. . . the gummint is making the maps. . . so should we believe them?? If you are a sloughologist, please fill me in. Bonus if you do it with a crazy eye twitch.

So back to the birds. I'm solving all of this by just calling it the Elochoman Whatever, and shortening that further to "The Elochoman". So just past this bunch of conifers at the opening is a little stretch of the Elochoman where I had Common Mergansers (29), Common Goldeneye (30), Downy Woodpecker (31), and a Belted Kingfisher (32) making a racket. 

Things open up to the right of the road, and I had yet more waterfowl, including Cackling Goose, Canada Goose (33), American Coot (34), Gadwall (35), Buffleheads (36) and a Great Blue Heron (37).

Coots!

Then I finally got my first of year Varied Thrushes (38). They were at a pretty good distance, 2-3 of them fluting/whistling from a tree. They're hands-down my favorite bird. From their spooky song to their cobalt-on-pumpkin coloring. Add to this the fact that they are birds that can be found throughout the state, and throughout few other states. They're kind of our state bird. The kids who voted for the American Goldfinch got this one wrong, I think!

I should add this to Wikipedia, really. . . 

Bewick's Wren (39), Dark-eyed Junco, and Song Sparrow were among other birds seen early and often along the road.

Things became much more watery as I continued. Ducks to the left of me (adding American Wigeon (40), Hooded Merganser (41), Northern Shoveler (42), and Ring-necked Duck (43)), and sparrows to the right (adding Fox Sparrow to this trip list).

At several points, the fields opened up a bit more to the right, and I had opportunities to pick through hundreds of Cackling Geese, looking for a Greater White-fronted or Snow Goose. Spoiler alert - I found none through the entire weekend! There had been a few sightings here and there, but I missed them all. I also had a heard-only Red-shouldered Hawk (44) along the way. While it would have been nice to see it, as I did the day before, I was thankful to have recently heard their calls, allowing me to pick them out. A Red-tailed Hawk (45) was also found on this stretch, as well as Common Ravens (46), and some calling Virginia Rails (47).

White-tail Trail

Finally, some walking! I got out of the car and followed this trail to its completion and back. This was a *great* bit of birding! The swans were the highlight, with both Tundra (48), and Trumpeter Swans (49) on the pond/swamp/water thing. 

Tundra Swans

Trumpeter Swans

I'll admit, these species are two I often differentiate by calls. Although that was helpful, I was happy to have spent more time working on field marks for them, making it a little easier to get an idea for the numbers of each species. At least one Canvasback (50) was mixed in with the swans, and a Northern Harrier (51) was on patrol as well. 

Birds kept rolling in as I walked: Marsh Wren (52), Bald Eagle (53), Hairy Woodpecker (54), Black Phoebe (55), Northern Pintail (56), and a Great Egret (57).

And then kaput. My camera repeated a trick from last year, deciding to give me a black screen rather than an image as I snapped. Apologies, but the rest of the pictures will be from the phone for the rest of the trip, and it would appear I'll need to ask the camera people if I broke my camera, or perhaps they didn't fix it. 

I got to the end of the trail and found myself stuck on a bird. It sounded like a Black Phoebe to me, but it was awfully close, and I couldn't see the bird on a perch. I tried to grab recordings, but it just wasn't singing constantly, and never at the right time. I left it at that and just thought, "What a weird Black Phoebe." A birder passed through immediately after me and later posted that he'd found a Swamp Sparrow at the end of the trail. 

So, I just get to sit and wonder. And sit and listen to recordings of both species. I learned later in the trip that this was a semi-reliable place to look for Swamp Sparrows too! So, next month I'll come in better prepared, I hope.

Go West!

I was off to a decent start for the county, and it was just approaching noon. I slipped out through back roads and arrived in Skamokawa. (skuh MOCK away, rather than SCAM o' COW uh). Here, I found Mourning Doves (58) in town. They're a tough code 3 bird in a county where (interestingly enough) Rock Pigeons are notably absent! There used to be a place or two where they could be found, but those days seem to be in the past. 

This brought me to Highway 4, and then further west. I pulled over at one point, seeing a sign that I'd summited KM Mountain. Neat! Elevation is given as 955 feet, and I snapped a picture of the vista.

This was to the South of the highway, where there are hills that keep you from driving right along the Columbia River - places like Elk Mountain, and Altoona Hill. None of it is very high, most of it is logged. Even just driving along the highway, it's pretty easy to see evidence of logging operations on both sides of the road. I'm always drawn to the high points in counties, but many of the ones in Wahkiakum are up gated logging roads. There may be an ascent of something this year, but I have no idea what that would be in this county!

Grays River

Grays River meanders its way through farmland in the Western end of Wahkiakum County. At this time of year, there are a lot of flooded fields, so I thought I'd give them a peek. One of the first stops was at the Covered Bridge: 

This is a spot I've been back to a couple of times. The birding has been fine, but honestly, it's a cute bridge in a pretty setting. This is also where I pulled over to pick at something resembling lunch. Cheese, apples, crackers. 

Gulls flew overhead, reminding me again to work on getting to know gulls in flight a little better. Ravens called from the surrounding hills. It was otherwise pretty quiet right around here! As I continued around this valley, I basically kept going clockwise around its center, heading south, and then west. While it was generally quiet, I did have one very good stop with a flooded field. I picked up a Yellow-rumped Warbler (59) as I got out of the car. 

Down below, there were a hundred or so American Wigeon. I scanned them for a Eurasian Wigeon and had kind of given up on it. But to keep the good eBird data flowing, I got in and counted the birds, giving them each a second look. It didn't take too long to find a red head in there - Eurasian Wigeon! (60). Also in this field: Red-winged Blackbirds (61), Short-billed Gulls (62), and Green-winged Teal (63). 

Flooded field in the Gray's River Valley

My route took me from Covered Bridge Road to Barr Road and finally to Altoona-Pillar Rock Road. This started with a drive down the Grays River, then onto a tree-lined section of the Columbia before things opened up a little. When things opened up, I had views of the Columbia, AND a surprising little bit of mud. As I scanned the Columbia, I heard a call from a Least Sandpiper (64). I hadn't expected to do any shorebirding, but why not? I moved my binoculars down to the mud and realized there was a nice group of Greater Yellowlegs (65) working the mud. 

Why, incidentally, do birders use that term so often? A *nice* group of Greater Yellowlegs? Do you really know what those shorebirds have been up to. . . ? But I do like to give the benefit of the doubt, so we'll stick with nice. Then I started hearing a high-pitched call that I couldn't quite place. After some scanning, trying to find a Spotted Sandpiper, or who-knows-what, I found a Long-billed Dowitcher (66) there in the mix. Shorebirding to start the year!

Out in the water, I additionally found a Horned Grebe (67), and a Red-throated Loon (68). Tundra Swans called from out of sight on the Columbia, and huuuundreds of dark ducks crowded together at a distance too great for the light/optics situation. I'd wager there were at least some Surf Scoters, but these birds got away from me. 

Grays River antics - courtesy of the eBird hotspot map

I knew that there was another viewpoint on the West side of the Grays River, so I looped up through Rosburg, working from memory to try to find it. Unfortunately, my lack of preparation lost the day for me here. I ended up on Miller Point Road, which dead ends before reaching the water. Womp. Womp. Womp.

Done? Hardly!

Skamokawa Vista Park

I'd passed the 1:00 hour and thought there might be some time and value in giving Skamokawa Vista Park a try for gulls, and Puget Island a try for Eurasian Collared-Doves. At the first, I found not a single gull, but did add Western Grebe (69). I gave every Common Merganser a good look, as at least one Red-breasted Merganser had been seen near Puget Island recently. 

On Puget Island, I found myself feeling rushed, and not really prepared. I think I figured I'd just give this place a pass for January. But it was nearing in on 2:00, and there were still some good possibilities here. Puget Island is largely agricultural, so the fields held the possibility of some of my missing geese. I scanned every wire and tree for Eurasian Collared-Doves but found none. Along the way, I did pick up Killdeer (70), and Pied-billed Grebe (71). 

across the bridge to Puget Island

Finally, as I was headed back towards the bridge off of the island, I came across a field of gulls. Most of them were Short-billed Gulls, but there were two large gulls as well. One was clearly a Glaucous-winged x Western Gull Hybrid, with slightly dark primaries. Next to it was an Iceland Gull! (72) Pink feet and size ruled out a good handful of possibilities. Not too dark, not too light narrowed it down further, although in the lighting, it was worth questioning that. One last piece that separated it from Herring Gull was the dark iris. Herring Gulls have a yellow iris that, together with their head shape, give them a kind of angry look. Iceland Gulls are sometimes described as having a gentle dove-like expression. I don't know if I see *that*, but I would say this gull looked "less angry."

The very last bird of the day: A Peregrine Falcon (73) sitting in the same field. 

THIS was a great start to the year in Wahkiakum. Digging 73 species out of a small-ish county in the winter is a good good day.

Vancouver, and . . . Oregon??

My final destination for the day was Kevin Black's couch in Vancouver. He and his wife had kindly opened up their home for me to collapse, even though they themselves were just returning from a trip. We all arrived around 5, talked about dinner plans, and eventually decided that Kevin and I would head out to grab dinner. 

And he takes me to Portland.

My feelings about being in Oregon are essentially all tongue-in-cheek, but there's that grain of truth thing about jokes. For someone who spends a year focused on a county (or, erm. . . four) in Washington State, time spent completely outside of Washington is just off the theme. I could pass a Wrentit riding on the back of a White-tailed Kite, but it wouldn't count. It would count for my. . . Oregon list, but. . .Oregon list?? 

I may honestly get to Oregon next. You know, next like, when I'm 80. 

Until then, I really do try to stay inside the lines for the year, including patronizing the places inside those lines, seeing what the people are like, etc. etc. 

Sighhhhhhh, so we're in Portland, and we landed in a bar that was packed to the gills with people on their way to a Trailblazers game. Kevin and I found a spot, settled in and got a pint and some food. Kevin is, of course, a Clark County resident, but had also lived in Cowlitz in his early years, so we spent a lot of time talking about all of the surrounding counties. Plans, possibilities, and birds that we might have fun targeting together down the road. 

Rock Wrens and Green Herons were the topics of conversation. We also talked a little bit about where you can go to see owls in Clark County. 

"Owls are to be heard. Not seen." 

I honestly don't mind seeing owls, but there really is something special about hearing them when they are hearable. There's a lot I love about owling. There's the efficiency of it (you weren't going to spend those hours looking at other birds!), the spookiness of it (more on some nights than others), and on a successful night, the conversational aspect of it is also fun. 

On the way back to the car, I called Cindy, another Clark County birder. We were making plans to do some birding the next day. I mentioned that I had thought of trying for Barred Owl at Fort Vancouver. And she told me where you can go to *see* owls in Clark County. "Yep, Kevin told me about that place too!" I said, smirking at Kevin. 

In the end, the plan was Steigerwald NWR in the morning with Cindy and Les. Kevin and I drove some streets hoping for a Barn Owl flyover but got none. This left my Clark County total at 1 - thanks to a murmuration of European Starlings seen after sundown on my way into Vancouver. 

Day two complete!

January 1st - The Cowlitz-Columbia Christmas Bird Count

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the 2023 blog. For orientation purposes, it may be wise to take a peek at the "Bad Math" page linked at right. In summary, I'm going to be birding in the Southwestern corner of Washington state -Cowlitz, Clark, Skamania, and Wahkiakum counties in 2023. The driving goal will be to see 150 species of birds in each of the counties by the time the ball drops for 2024. As described in Bad Math, some counties will be easier than others, and I have a general feeling that I can reach the goal, but honestly, we'll just have to see. I'm not an AT ALL COSTS kind of person, so we'll see if a balanced, chase-free approach can get me there. 

I actually hit the sack around 10 on New Year's Eve and woke up with my alarm at 3:15. For perspective, I live in Renton, Washington, and the nearest of the four counties for me is Cowlitz County. Google seems to think that I can get to Cowlitz County in an hour and forty-five minutes. With sunrise around 8, one might wonder. . . why?!?!

1. I had not finished packing.

2. I was headed to the Christmas Bird Count, and was assigned to West Longview, which adds time. 

3. Civil twilight is a fine time to bird, and that was closer to 7:20. 

4. Owls!

I love at least giving it a try. Adding owls to the tally for a Christmas Bird Count (and to a year tally) is a fun thing. January hasn't been great to me, when it comes to owls, but that's never really stopped me from getting out there and trying! Especially when daylight hours are so short, I love getting out there earlier, rather than later. I've heard it said, "We show up late to places we don't want to be." It would seem. . . disrespectful towards Cowlitz not to get there early on Jan 1 and look for owls!

So, these were the circumstances that led to me standing in a cemetery at 6:30ish New Year's Day 2023. 

photo by Branches of History on FindAGrave.com

Mount Solo was a new location for me. I'd not heard of it, and it sure isn't all that tall (550 feet), but throughout my driving day, it gave me a nice geographical anchor. For the moment, a tree-covered hill surrounded by farmland seemed like a good enough place for an owl to roost. There was no wind to speak of when I started calling, first for the little guys (Northern Saw-whet Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl), and then larger ones (Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl). 

We dream of having interesting birds on our list as our FOY (first of year) bird. And what did I get? A Mallard (1)! Note the parentheticals. I'll be using them throughout the blogs to track the running tally for whatever county I'm in. Cowlitz. We're in Cowlitz. Only 149 birds left to find! Wooo!

Willow Grove Road

I knew this road would give me most of the birds I'd find for the day, and the farmland had the potential for Great Horned Owl, Barn Owl, or maybe even Short-eared Owls. I drove the perimeter, stopping and calling when the roads looked safe, and the habitat looked good. Nothing came of that but twilight, and eventually the first sunrise of the year - an event hidden deeply by the gray skies. The southeast corner, where the road leads into Willow Grove, is where I began.

Birds came quickly enough as I stood next to my car, pulled off at a safe spot (not always easy to find on this road!). Double-crested Cormorant (2), and Belted Kingfishers (3) in the channel, Song Sparrows (4), Dark-eyed Juncos (5), Spotted Towhees (6), and Anna's Hummingbird (7) in the brush. 

Early on, I also heard this Black Phoebe (8), a nice bird for the county: 

European Starlings (9) were not hard to find and tried to get me to add Killdeer to the list several times over, with their uncanny imitations. Bald Eagles (10) and Common Ravens (11) called from Fisher Island, which I was happy to find was part of Cowlitz County, and not Oregon. This is always a consideration when driving along a river at the edge of a county! Also seen and heard from this spot: American Robin (12), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (13), Golden-crowned Sparrow (14), Fox Sparrow (15), House Sparrow (16), California Scrub-Jay (17), Black-capped Chickadee (18), and Northern Flicker (19). 

Double-crested Cormorant

The channel had more ducks, including Buffleheads (20), American Wigeon (21), and both scaup species - Greater Scaup (22) in a pack of a dozen, and a pair of Lesser Scaup (23). Gulls passed overhead, but . . . gulls in flight are a work in progress for me! Especially in the fog, I just added them to my CBC list as "gull (sp.)". Great Egret (24) and Downy Woodpecker (25) were the last additions from Fisher Island.

The sun continued to try to peek out as I worked the loop clockwise. My next major pull-off actually allowed me to park and get some walking in. That can be a major struggle on these trips. In just trying to add species, it can become tempting to make stops fast, hop in the car, drive to the next stop, rinse, lather, repeat. But I like long walks on the beach.

From a dock near the boat launch bathrooms, I watched a flock of Brewer's Blackbirds (26) and House Finches (27) in a tree, when a small dark falcon whizzed past, within a few feet of my head. Merlin (28)! The tree quickly emptied of birds, as it chased them off to the other side of the trees.

This wasn't the most productive stop, but I was able to get some nice flyovers, including Cackling Goose (29), Canada Goose (30), American Goldfinch (31), and American Pipit (32). The Killdeer (33) was more of a flyby than a flyover.

Back out on the road, American Kestrel (34) was an easy bird to pick up several times over as I scanned the fields. There had been good birds seen here over the last few weeks, including Snow Geese, swans, and Red-Shouldered Hawks. Every bunch of Cackling Geese was inspected, and the upper branches of trees, but those birds did not seem to want to show up. 

Other birds were picked up along the way, including American Crow (35), Common Goldeneye (36), and Red-tailed Hawk (37). Rounding the bend to the north half of the peninsula, the water birds became more numerous, including more cormorants, and ducks mentioned above, as well as Pied-billed Grebe (38), Common Merganser (39), and a pair of Red-winged Blackbirds (40).

One of the kestrels I passed seemed awfully big. . . and tucked into a tree, rather than on a wire. . . so I stopped to get a better look:

Red-shouldered Hawk! (41)

These gorgeous birds are only infrequently seen up in King County, so I'd forgotten just how much smaller they are than a Red-tailed Hawk. I got to hear them vocalizing as well, which would surely help as I birded this corner of the state. From Oregon southward, these birds are far more common, but in Washington, the counties I am visiting this year (with the exception of Skamania) have them annually, and in fairly predictable areas. 

Bushtits (42), Bewick's Wren (43), Gadwall (44), and Ring-billed Gulls (45) were added to the day/year list. As I type that, I realize that I forgot to note a Glaucous-winged Gull (46), and Great Blue Heron (47) from the Willow Grove Boat Launch. Adding them out of order here, rather than renumbering every bird in the text. I pray you forgive that decision! :)

Having finished my loop, I returned to the Boat Launch. I found a picnic table to boil up some water for coffee and lunch. Even the short drive down to the park and back led to a few more birds on the list: White-crowned Sparrow (48), Cooper's Hawk (49), Mourning Dove (50), and Eurasian Collared-Dove (51).

California Scrub-Jay

Cooper's Hawk

Eurasian Collared-Doves, but even more fun
that a house appears to be floating in the sky.

Barlow Point Road

This was interesting for me. Based on the map, I assumed that this was a road that would give views of the Columbia. Instead, it was more farmland, edged on the south by a tree-covered rise between the road and the river. I started new tallies for the CBC, adding more sparrows, and another Red-shouldered Hawk. At one point, as I was watching a feeder, a gentleman met me on the road. 

"Must be doing the bird count?" he asked. 

We had a nice chat about birding in general, and about the birds on the road. He chuckled as he talked about the lines of cars that had come down to take a look at the "White-shouldered Kite". I knew this was a mix of White-tailed Kite (a species that has not been here in a few years) and Red-shouldered Hawk; 15 years ago, I thought that starlings were baby crows, so I'm pretty forgiving with that stuff. 

As I *always* do in these years, I made it a point to ask him if he knew of any barns that might have a Barn Owl. 

"Well, this one right here," he told me, pointing to the one smack-dab in front of us. "But the owner passed recently. I don't know who owns it now, but I haven't seen the owl as much lately." I made a note of it anyway and lifted my binoculars as we talked to see a few Yellow-rumped Warblers (52) flitting around in a tree. We said our good-days, and I started driving North to new spots in my assigned area. 

Longview Sewage Ponds

Okay, for full transparency, these were not in my assigned area. But I had texted Russ (THE Cowlitz County guy) for help in finding Altrusa Park, which I thought I was covering. He let me know that the Park was already being covered. "But have you hit the sewage ponds yet?"

I had not thought that the ponds were part of my area, so I was pretty excited to get this news. From all accounts, it was chock full of ducks, including some Canvasbacks, which are a code 3 bird. I skedaddled up the road and found the ponds, scanning them from the west side. 

Canada Geese were on the pond, as well as dozens of Ruddy Ducks (53) and a few Northern Shovelers (54).

Ruddy Ducks

There are actually like. . . a half-dozen ponds here, and not all of them are easily viewed from the obvious pullout where I'd parked. A hundred meters up, and I was able to find quite a few Double-crested Cormorants, a Hooded Merganser (55), and this American Kestrel. 

I'm no critter expert, so I don't know what it caught here.

A car pulled up, and two people started to scan through the Ruddy Ducks. Suspicious, I went over and checked. They were indeed part of the CBC and were covering the ponds. We quickly compared some notes, and they pointed me to a strip along the south side of the ponds where I could see some of the other areas better. 

From the south, I picked up American Coot (56), and Canvasback (57). I tried to find a Eurasian Wigeon in the American Wigeons but came up empty. A Black Phoebe called here as well - there were quite a few that I came across during the three days!

North and West

Coal Creek Road runs north and west from the ponds, eventually hitting Harmony Road. This got me into some more coniferous goodness, and I was able to pick up a few forest birds, namely Pacific Wren (58), Golden-crowned Kinglet (59), and Chestnut-backed Chickadee (60). These birds were nearly the only ones I found on this little jaunt. The biggest obstacle was the noise from Harmony Creek, which was quite full and moving fast. I pulled off at several spots, trying to find an American Dipper. It seemed to me like they'd love the rapids! But none were found. 

"You should check the ponds on Highway 4."

I will never know if there was a Tufted Duck here.
But I am alive, so there's that.

And I'm *just* earnest enough, that I thought about slowing to look at the 200 ducks in these ponds. But the traffic breathing down my neck and the lack of pull-offs made this a pass. Hard pass. 

Birds of the Great Miscellany

The focus was lower as I worked on wrapping up the count. I drove Mount Solo Road, pulling off every once in a while, because "Oh my gawd, it's an egret!!"

We just don't get them in King County with any kind of regularity, but by the end of the afternoon, it had become abundantly clear that these are pretty common birds in Cowlitz. In the process, I did find another couple of species of ducks: Green-winged Teal (61), and Ring-necked Duck (62). So many of the sloughs and ponds held these species, more Great Egrets, and more Gadwall. 

I finished the birding day and gassed up at Fred Meyer. Rock Pigeon (63) was the last bird of the day for me. I took a quick nap in the car, then went to Stuffy's II in Longview for a little post-count get-together. 

Stuffy's II

I don't know that I ever found out where Stuffy's I was, but the sequel was a nice place to plug the laptop in and do some work before people arrived. I poked at emails, filled out eBird lists, and had a fine cup of bean soup - perfect after a January day outside.

People trickled in, and I finally spotted Russ, packed up my things and joined the group at a couple of tables. 

How fun to sit down with other birders. We talked excitedly about some of the highlights of the day. Not everyone on the count attended, but we still had people from 4-5 different areas, including some from across the river in Oregon. 

I got some good information about some of the birds I did/didn't find along the way: 

American Dippers - none for the whole group, and likely because the rivers are too rapid with the snowmelt right now. 

Barn Owl - Barlow Point is exactly where Russ had gone on New Year's Eve Morning. . . did I get that right. . . yes. . . to try for Barn Owls. He had eclipsed his own Cowlitz County year list record with 199 species for the year, and the Barn Owl would have made it 200. I have to say, the smile on his face - the love he has for just getting out there and birding, is inspiring. You occasionally come across some people who do the numbers, and who get pretty upset when they miss a bird or realize that they'll have to head back to a place on another trip. Russ has a sense of humor about all of it that transcends any of that silliness. 

American Pipit - the one I had at Willow Grove was the first one found for this particular count. Fun! Russ had these the previous week in that area, so they weren't unexpected. They're just so often identified first by call, and not everyone really birds by ear. 

Brandt's Cormorant was part of the discussion as well! This was a new county bird that another birder had found on the riverfront at Kalama. From what I've gathered, there have been more smelt upriver in the Columbia this winter, so some species like Brandt's Cormorant (which are more often found in the saltwater) have been pushing their way inland to follow the fish. 

After a little more chatter and a little food, Becky read off the list of species, with each group signaling if they'd seen it during the day. Again, we didn't have all groups present, but even so the total was nearly 100 species!

We got in line at the register to pay up, and I spotted a mug. In addition to the Very Serious Pursuit of having a 150 year list in every county in Washington, I have the Way More Serious Quest to gather up a mug from all 39 counties. This seemed like a fine mug to take, given what a wonderful day it had been in Cowlitz County. 

Eventually, I do want to display all of those mugs. I had thought that they really needed a state map to hang on (obviously). I discussed this with a friend who dabbles in woodworking projects. The thought came to us - why not make this map out of wood, with different pieces of wood for each county coming *from* that county. 

Mason County, and wood from 
Still Waters Farm

So, I have a growing mug collection. . . Wahkiakum Eagle Days, Ritzville Grain Co-op, Bickleton Presbyterian Church, and many others. Wood-wise, I feel like I'm off to a good start as well, with oak from Klickitat County, Blue-stain Lodgepole Pine from Mason, Apple from Union Hill Cider in Douglas County. We've been cutting them in to rounds, and I've finally started to touch saw to wood. 

It's going to be a while!

With mug in hand, and feeling completely exhausted, I hopped in the car and drove to Cathlamet in Wahkiakum County, ready to do a full day of birding there on the 2nd. 

Day one in the books!