July 25 - A Spotty Bit of Cleanup

 

So June. . . 

I've made a habit of skipping out on June, it would seem! I had some great trips in May, and then got 1) busy with work 2) busy playing Dad taxi and 3) sidelined with a bad shoulder. 

Shoulder pain. . . I leave the commentary on this to the indomitable Louis CK. Needless to say, I am doing physical therapy now. And that will fix it...? Nope! That's just something that I do now. 

But there was a window for me to get down for a 24-hour blitz, to try to clean up some summer birds that might disappear. This did include Spotted Sandpiper in Clark.

Meeker Pond

I shot a few emails off to birders in the area as soon as I was able to get free. Russ Koppendrayer was able to meet up with me at a pond off of Meeker Avenue for a quick bit of birding. This was not a bad stop! The pond can be seen poorly from the road, but apparently, the owner also welcomes birders to use the slope all the way down to the pond as needed. The ground is a little unstable, and just shrubby enough to hide all manners of treachery, so Russ and I got set up and scoped from about halfway down the hill. 

We got some shorebirds! I had plenty of these on my Cowlitz life list, thanks to some magical trips I'd had with other in years past, but my year list was a bit light. I ended up picking up Least Sandpiper (142 for the year in Cowlitz), Long-billed Dowitcher (143), Greater Yellowlegs (144) and Killdeer. We also had. . . ducks in fall plumage. I've been out with some excellent birders at this time of year, and in some of those years, I've been looking for Blue-winged Teals and Cinnamon Teals. More than a couple of them groaned at the thought of trying to sort these birds out!

Nonetheless, the 37th time I said, "Is this a Cinnamon Teal, Russ?" it was. Smaller than the mallards, blue bill, and a little more length (spatulation for you fancy folks) to the bill. Not like... a shoveler bill, but in that direction. We discussed other field marks too, but this was enough to help us nail down the ID (145). 

There was some chattering down below that sounded vaguely orioleish, but thick layers of leaves prevented us from cutting through this vaguery. I'd found orioles in Wahkiakum and Skamania for the year, but not in Cowlitz yet. Late July, incidentally, is a lousy time to try to do this!

Kalama River Mouth

California Gulls on a bar in 
the Columbia River

We talked about various other birds, and decided a quick trip out to the mouth of the Kalama was in order. Caspian Terns and a short list of shorebirds were the possibilities. We missed on any new birds, but I did get to eat a ripe blackberry and pet a therapy dog (all dogs, incidentally, are therapy dogs). Plenty of California Gulls flew along the river, this being on the early end of their migration. 

Russ and I parted ways, and I went the wrong way in trying to get back to the freeway (you can't go south towards Kalama, as it dead ends at a railroad crossing). On my way back, I stopped at a bridge over the Kalama to try to turn a Barn Swallow into a Cliff Swallow (nope) and ended up finding a Green Heron (146!) flying overhead. 

Woodland

From here, I went solo to Woodland Bottoms. First, I went north to look for Cliff Swallows. There were scads of swallows bunched up here, mostly Violet-green and Tree, with a few Northern Rough-winged mixed in. I also got to watch a Kingfisher pull a small fish out of the water and have a meal. Just as I decided to give up on the Cliff Swallows, one swooped across the road as I walked to my car. (147)

I went from here to the South end of Woodland Bottoms, finding the little turn to Austin Point. I had missed this on other trips but had been told by Russ that there was a Bank Swallow colony findable with a little bit of walking. I. . . went the wrong way! Heading South instead of North from the parking area, I still enjoyed a nearly perfect 30-60 minute walk. It was warm, but not overly so, and there was a nice cool breeze at my back. The waves came into the sand, always a relaxing sound. I think I even tried to identify the smell as "sea air", but of course the Columbia is fresh water. It still seemed to have some parts of the sea air smell, minus the saltiness? I was unable to get photos to show you this, but if someone is able to get down there, let me know what you think. 

American Bullfrog-to-be

The birding highlight was watching a Bald Eagle and a couple of Ospreys having a discussion over fish ownership. 

I passed something akin to a bank, and there were holes in the bank. . .  but I was pretty sure that I wasn't at any Bank Swallow colony. Wompwompwomp. Fortunately, they aren't quite gone, remaining through August, so I have at least another chance to walk the beach. 

Big Meal

Kalama

Plans to do a little birding with my friend Sariah became plans to grab a drink and some food with her. Working in a crisis clinic. . . crises arise. And although she was slated to have the evening off, she offered to meet with a family who had been through some awful things that day. It was still nice to sit down at Willie Dick's First Street Tap House to enjoy some smoked salmon tacos, a pint of local beer and locally produced hot sauces. Silagy's Sauces is a company that seems to run out of Battle Ground - Sariah was well aware of them, and I could see why. The smokey habanero sauce was amazing. I don't just put hot sauces right onto chips, but I found myself doing this after the tacos were done. So. Good. 

They have a site here, including information on what restaurants and stores carry it! I was happy to see a market in Renton carries it. I'm making a visit. 

Kelso

Kelso was a quick-ish stop. I found a place to lay my head for the night, returning to the America's Value Inn on Pacific. I got on wifi and got some work/emails squared away. I also had a quick look at sightings in Wahkiakum County. I knew it would be my best bet for some evening birding, but was not sure how *much* birding that would include! Careful math finally told me that a direct trip up Elochoman Valley Road would probably be perfect timing for Common Nighthawks. I had a few other species I was hoping for up there, but it was just late enough to put those in doubt. 

Elochoman Valley Road

It's actually nice to have a fairly reduced year list, as I did in Wahkiakum County. I didn't have the temptation to pull over at every little juicy bit of habitat. It was fine to head right up Elochoman Valley Road, following it to its end. Sad note, I think I had driven it to the north border of the county before, but this time I was turned back by signs noting that the road turned into private recreation land beyond a certain point. "Scan the QR code for pass information" was what the sign read over a blank space. Other signs encouraged me to smile, "This area is under video surveillance." And all of this right as I spied an amazing clear cut ahead. Thoughts of Willow or Olive-sided Flycatcher faded, although it may have been too late in the day for them anyway.

I drove back to the next best clear cut, rolled down the window and listened for "peent" calls of nighthawks. My brain was clearly too relaxed and not expecting instant success, because I heard the darn thing call 10-15 times before it sunk in! I was able to get audio and a couple distant pics of a pair of Common Nighthawks (137 for my Wahkiakum year list, and my 150th life bird in the county!) cruising over the open fields. Cedar Waxwings (138) also flew through, and Swainson's Thrushes were plentiful throughout the evening at all stops. 

I thought the area might also be good for owls, so I tried for Northern Pygmy-Owl and Barred with some calls. The Barred Owl call got a reaction - hair-raising shrieky calls from a pair of juveniles off the road. This made 139 for the year, and the sun was below the elevated horizon at this point. It would have to be enough! I know it would have been a lot easier to clean things up for the year with a couple more birds located - maybe one of those flycatchers, a Sooty Grouse, or a Canada Jay. Some of those, however, may still be possible in the months to come. 

Being within 3 birds of the year goal in Cowlitz (see pages linked at right if you've forgotten what the heck I'm trying to do this year), and 11 birds in Wahkiakum. . . it makes it all sound so close! But I was still going to bed 26 birds short in Clark, and 21 birds short of 150 in Skamania. Plenty of work to do! Missing easy year birds (assuming I will. . . and I am okay with that assumption) is the downside of the four-county plan. I'm hoping in the end, that I'll still feel like I've really *done* these counties well, even with some of those misses. 

Back to Kelso, and to bed.