April 23rd - The Great Escape, Day 5

 

Morning at Alcyon Farm

I again let myself get a little sleep, resting up for the day ahead following an. . . interesting attempt to find owls in the middle of the night! Andrew was already up, feeding the sheep, and handling other chores around the place. I got up and got dressed and got out birding the property. Grouse, both Sooty and Ruffed, were the targets for the morning. 

Licorice Ferns (and maybe sword as well?)
growing on a Bigleaf Maple

I crossed the broad field, enjoying Hairy Woodpecker rattles and Varied Thrush fluting along the way. At the bridge over Skamokawa Creek, I found the dippers once again doing their thing. Then I waited just on the far side of the bridge, where Andrew had said the Ruffed Grouse was often drumming. I stopped and listened and ended up finding another year bird for Wahkiakum - a Hermit Thrush (99 for the year) first calling with its harsh nasal call, then actually pushing out little bits of song. 

As I listened to the thrush, I felt, then heard, the drumming start. Ruffed Grouse! (100). Andrew caught up with me, bringing the dogs out on their morning walk. We continued around the property, talking about trees, summer birds, bats, logging roads, and tides.

We also, at some point, got talking about the joy of birding under one's own power. Whether that's walking, kayaking, biking or what have you. It's just a bit more fun than being in a car. We were definitely signed up for some own-power birding on this particular day! 

Grays Bay

We had plans to hit the mudflats of Grays Bay, scoping things first from Altoona, and then tromping out across the mudflats right around low tide. There were a few different shorebirds that we had especially in mind: Black-bellied Plovers and their less common vagrant cousins; Whimbrel, Short-billed Dowitcher, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, and peeps of any kind (Western being the most likely one that would add to my year list.)

Breakfasted up, we drove both cars to Skamokawa. I hopped into Andrew's car. As we pulled away, I realized that I hadn't locked my car. Despite an offer to head back, I decided to leave it that way - a declaration of trust in the county. According to Andrew, the crime in Wahkiakum County was limited to about 12 people, and breaking into cars in broad daylight was not really part of their modus operandi.

Our first stop was at KM Mountain - a high point along Highway 4, where Western Bluebirds had been seen the day before. We got pretty excited about an American Robin at one point (don't we always, birding friends?), but it was decidedly not a bluebird. I had the same experience with a Pacific Wren that was not a House Wren, and we continued on our merry way.

We made our next stop along Lower Grays River, where we watched puddle ducks and some gulls of questionable ancestry for a little bit. Some looked like Western Gulls to me from the right angles. . . but suddenly did not from . .  well, clearly from the wrong angles. :D  

We continued up the road to Altoona, where we scoped the water and listened to the calls in the trees behind us. One of those first calls was a Wilson's Warbler (101), checkcheckchecking loudly from the trees. White-crowned Sparrows also sang from nearly everywhere, and we got discussing the subspecies songs. I nearly only hear Pugetensis up in my neck of the woods, so the one we kept hearing, given its accent, seemed like a good Gambelii. But this led to a discussion that would have made for lovely video - both of us talking through the songs, doing our best imitations of the two songs. Shame I didn't put the phone on record!

Red-breasted Merganser

Out in the water, we got some good luck immediately, with a Red-breasted Merganser (102), which turned into three of them as we continued to scan. With more scanning, we got many Greater Scaup (surprise?), some Western Grebes, Red-throated and Common Loons, and American White Pelicans (103). From behind us, a Cassin's Vireo (104) made some calls. My brain heard them, and started to ask, "hey isn't that a . . . " and kind of drifted away as Andrew and I talked about other birds, but the bird gave a few more calls, getting both of our attention. It was a nice clean call. We discussed those *other* "vireo" calls - the ones that come from finches. There were definitely Purple Finches around that morning, and we had a chance to hear them do the vireo-like calls that they do. Definitely similar in phrasing at times, but definitely bad for a vireo. 

Pelagic Cormorant (105) was not a bird I'd thought of as a target, but it showed up for us nonetheless. Additionally, we had a Hermit Thrush and a Spotted Sandpiper (106) along the beach. 

Astoria Bridge in the distance

We went back to the mouth of Crooked Creek and booted up. It was a squishy walk, and 2 and a half miles all told, out and back. But what great conditions! Quite early on, we got Black-bellied Plovers (107), which sadly took flight before we could scope them and try to find the odd plovers. A pair of gulls appeared dark enough to list them as Western. "At least 95%", which is all you can ever assume these days. (108).

Whimbrels! (109) We got a handful of them and had fun watching them slowly poke along the mudflats. It took a good bit of walking before we got to them, nearly at Crooked Creek itself. The tide was running away from us, and Andrew pointed out some of the different points of interest to help me get my bearings. He explained the tides. . . which is one of those ideas that I perennially struggle with. I think I came away with information that should help me better understand where to find shorebirds in the future. We'll see in the fall. My nickel says that much of this will Teflon right out of my brain, and I'll be back at this creek puzzled in the future. We shall see. 

Hey! Where'd our footprints go? :)

Pileated Woodpecker (110) was another added bird at this point, calling from the forested hillsides. 

Andrew suggested waiting an hour for the tide to slowly come in, pushing some of the shorebirds closer to us, but I was content with the visit we'd had. He ate his lunch while I scanned through the Greater Yellowlegs that seemed to be littered all over the flats.

We walked back closer to the high tide mark. Although the reason for this was ostensibly the possibility of Wilson's Snipe. . . I did not mind being close to the eventual shoreline. Psychologically, the story Andrew had related of people walking too far out on mudflats, and dying as the tide came in. . . it played with my brain a little bit. I watched the water suspiciously as we schlooped and schplucked our way back to the car. 

The Candle Farm, where they totally grow candles

Kandoll Road was a nice stop! It's land that's managed by the Columbia Land Trust, as described here. We dipped in and tried for Sora, getting only Virginia Rail. There were plenty of sparrows around, as well as some Purple Finches. We'd discussed the night before that these guys aren't purple like the crayon, but purple like wine-colored. This helped me a little bit, and with some squinting, I could buy in with this assertion. This will likely be a stop that I make later in the year, and earlier in the day to try for the Sora. 

Adios!

At this point, I was getting a little anxious about my caffeine levels. I'd not grabbed a morning cup of coffee - a fact I didn't consider until we were already well past any coffee stands or shops. We returned to the kayak shop in Skamokawa and said our adieus. Purple Martins called from overhead as I transferred things back to my car. In the end, it was a great half-day or so with a knowledgeable county birder. I'm super thankful to have had the opportunity to bird that area with Andrew and hope it's not the last I see of him this year. 

Julia Butler Hansen again

I first gave Brooks Slough, on the west side of the refuge, a try. This landed me my first Wood Duck of the year in Wahkiakum (111), and my first Savannah Sparrow (112). Returning to highway 4, I swung around to the East entrance of the refuge, picking up Brown Creeper (113) in the trees at the entrance, and Northern Rough-winged Swallow (114) at the refuge headquarters ponds. I drove to the trailhead for the White-tail Trail, and found shorebirds on the pond: numerous Least Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs, and a dowitcher. 

I have Long-billed Dowitcher for the year already, and this one, given the distance and optics was a puzzle to me. If anyone has definitive thoughts based on these pictures, fire away! Sadly the bird never called, which actually would have made this quite easy!

Puget Island

I hoped to find some Greater White-fronted Geese but struck out. It wasn't until I got home and popped the bird lists into eBird that I realized I'd added yet one more bird to the yearlist while driving the island - Bushtit! (115). 

Having arrived in the county with 73 birds for the year list. . . this was a ridiculously good trip. I liked that it put Wahkiakum in the "lead" over Cowlitz, Clark, and Skamania, if only temporarily! I grabbed a bite at Tim's Tavern in Kelso on my way home and got back before dark. 

16 Days in the books!