Thursday, June 8, 2023

May 30th - Grouse Vista Trail, Clark County

Morning at the trailhead

What a beautiful morning. I do love getting up early for hikes, to ensure that as much of the hike will be free of bugs as possible, and that I'll be able to wrap up before temperatures get too high. I did my oatmeal and coffee, then went to the bathroom at the Grouse Vista Trailhead to get changed. I'd slept in the car, and it had proved to be a serviceable hotel for the night. 

The morning chorus was one of the most interesting ones I've heard. Western Tanagers. And. . . that was it! Eventually it was some other birds, to be fair, but for the longest stretch of time, it was 100 percent Western Tanagers prikadikking from the canopy. 

Then I did the routine that. . . I am trying not to question. I packed up food and water in my pack. This hike was going to be anywhere from 3-5 hours, so only an idiot would bring no food and water. It's just. . . it's hard to remember a time when I've used either before the hike is done. I'm just taking a water bottle for a walk, for all intents and purposes!

Grouse feather, maybe??

Before I left, I added Band-tailed Pigeon (115 for Clark for the year) and Evening Grosbeak (116) to the year list. The trail itself started off as shown in the picture above. There was a little bit of cloud cover enveloping the whole area. The trees encroached all the way up to the trail, and it climbed steadily upward. I quickly got hot enough to remove an insulating layer! Swainson's Thrushes (117), Pacific-slope Flycatchers (118), and finally some Red-breasted Nuthatches (119) sang and called from the forest as I hiked. 


The trail I came in on (right)
and the snowy loop option (left)
The trees finally broke, even if the cloud cover had not. The trail also became flatter, although there was a constant bit of talus along the way - just enough to make some steps a little wobbly! I felt pretty confident about the trail I was following, expecting to encounter a little offshoot to the south, where the trail became a lollipop loop of sorts. This turned out to be a pretty snowy offshoot!

MacGillivray's Warblers (120) called nearly constantly in this area, and I eventually started to hear one of the main target birds for the hike, Sooty Grouse (121). There were usually some booming on one side of the trail or the other as I walked, so at least four of them during this stretch. 

Hermit or Townsend's Warblers were also calling nearly constantly. I eventually got a look at a Hermit Warbler (122), and pished a little, bringing five of them into a single tree! Hermit Thrushes (123) also started singing as I approached the Skamania County line. 

The line itself intersects the trail at a point where it makes a sharp turn. This made it pretty easy to determine when I'd slipped into Skamania County. Varied Thrushes, Sooty Grouse, and Hermit Thrushes continued their songs as I continued up the trail. I also started to get some views. 


In Skamania, I started to run into some snow. It really wasn't so bad, and I had microspikes ready to slap onto my boots. But I needed to be back in the Seattle area to pick up my daughter in the afternoon, so I erred on the side of caution in regard to time. As I started heading back, I got another maybe Hermit maybe Townsend's Warbler. I eventually got a look at a Townsend's Warbler (129 for Skamania for the year - the only one added on this little sneak into the county). 

Flowers, by the way, were found all along the trail. On the way back, I was happy to add one more bird to Clark as well, a Black-throated Gray Warbler - giving a derpyderpyderpydee call that contrasted nicely with the more rapid songs the other warblers had been giving throughout the morning. 

Flower were also coming in, with a few species of lilies seen along the way, and. . . maybe two kinds of trillium? I have to look to see, but I was surprised that some of them presented with white flowers while others were purple. 

Glacier Lilies

Likely Avalanche Lilies

Trillium ovatum was seen all along the trail, and it's the only one we really 
have in Washington. I did read that the flowers can turn pink
with age. 


I made it back to the car after about three hours of birding. Two hikers arrived as I was nearing the trailhead, but it was overall very quiet, which made sense on a Tuesday following a three-day weekend. I took Lucia Falls Road most of the way back to I5, simply assuming that somewhere I'd be able to pull over and get a Western Wood Pewee - a pretty common bird that I was still missing for the year. It was a beautiful drive! But not one that included any Pewees. 

This finished off my big May push towards the final goal - 150 species in all four counties during the year. I'm already a week or more into June as I write this, and am excited to eventually map out what the rest of the year might look like, especially in Clark and Skamania, where there are still 20 plus birds left to find for the year. 

Day 21 in the books!

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