October 14th - Wahk-cow!

One more loop

I snatched a little more sleep on the couch after Andrew and I returned from our owling foray. Eventually, coffee called. I got up and had my cup, chatting with Andrew about possible stops for birds to make with Randy, Russ, and Becky - three birders from this corner of the state who I'd be meeting shortly before 9 at Julia Butler Hansen. 

"But we need to get you your Canada Jay first," Andrew said as he got the dogs ready for a morning walk. The birds really are a common enough sighting for him on his property, but our swing around the forest and fields left me CAJA-less. Pileated Woodpeckers called excitedly throughout the walk and we had at least one set of calls that got our hopes up. 

Breakfast in me, but no Scrabble before I had to go. Clearly Andrew was content with the 1-0 series lead he holds over me.

. . .

I thanked the Emlens one more time before I had to hit the road, thankful for the generosity of time, food, shelter, and company. 

West Valley Road to East Valley Road to Highway 8 to the entrance of Julia Butler Hansen. There I found my three travel companions for the day waiting for me. We talked over plans and targets, and it became clear that they were going to follow my lead for the day. 

As an ENTP. . . this is too much responsibility. When I'm running around solo on trips, it's never without thought. It's never without a carefully calculated plan scribbled out on several notebook pages. I. . . just deviate from those plans with perfect ease. Nonetheless, I located the most decisive version of myself, and had him say, "Let's go to the White-tail Trail". 

True, I'd been there the previous day, but they were convinced (as Andrew and Jake had been) that there were Lincoln's Sparrows waiting for me there, and numerous other possible species. Along the way, we got Becky up to speed on spotting Great Egrets. Many people might not notice the birds, but once you learn some of the basic field marks, it gets much easier to spot these beautiful birds - something we did with greater and greater intentionality over the course of the day. 

The salt water remained mostly empty. Gulls would float by. . . brown, confusing gulls, for the most part. We opted out of even trying to call any of them Herring Gulls. 

Puget Island

There were numerous species that we thought might be found on Puget Island: Lincoln's Sparrow, Cooper's Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Western Meadowlark, Herring Gull, Bonaparte's Gull, Snow Goose, Merlin, and American Pipit (with imaginative thoughts of pheasants and quail). Randy had worked this area for the Christmas Bird Count on numerous occasions, so we followed his lead for the first part of the exploration. 

I was honestly kind of amazed that, as we stopped at good Lincoln's Sparrow spots, we kept coming across Savannah Sparrows! I know that they overwinter here and there in the state but was hard-pressed to think of a time that I'd seen so many in a winter-ish month. 

One of at least two Washington State Ferries 
that I have never boarded.

Part of the fun during this stretch was seeing the reactions from Russ and Becky (who have seen their share of birds in Wahkiakum as well!) as Randy took various backroads. We tried the ferry landing as well, picking up a Black Phoebe. Randy explained that he had worked to help document the first nesting Black Phoebes in the state - one here, and two there at first, but eventually, it became clear that they were in the state to stay. I can think of a few places in King County where I can reliably find them now! Nonetheless, they were certainly not a rare find on my trip. 

These are not the gulls you're looking for.

We pulled over once in a while and could see a time or two when Russ and Becky pulled over behind us. On one occasion, they pulled ahead of us to let us know there was a Cooper's Hawk in a tree. We made our way back, and i got a brief but satisfying glance at it before it took flight behind some trees. (146 for the Wahkiakum year!). We passed the lead off to Russ and Becky, and they led us off to the far Northwest corner of the island, where a short walk brought us to a gull roost. They were all Ring-billed and California Gulls, but it was still nice to find a new place on the island. I'd never wandered to this little spot, and apparently a White-breasted Nuthatch had been found here a few years back. 

At one point we stopped, and I swore that I heard a Western Meadowlark singing. Becky looked at me, and I could tell. . . "Tell me what bird you just heard..." I smiled. "Western Meadowlark." We got one more bit of song, and high-fived for bird 147. 

Views from Puget Island

Cathlamet - the Spar

I'm pretty sure everyone else had come a bit more prepared, but I was again running around lunchless, and guided us to the Spar for lunch. 

This is the list we were
looking at, minus birds
seen on the trip

In addition to fighting the hangries, I needed the stop to look things over and make a decision for the rest of the day. We ran through the list of remaining year-birds in Wahkiakum with the question: will they be easier in December than October? In the end there were a few that were a yes: Snow Goose, Dunlin, White-throated Sparrow, and *maybe* Herring Gull. 

I thought this over, together with some hopes of finding a Canada Jay or Northern Pygmy Owl with Andrew in December, and decided it was time to leave Wahkiakum. It's hard to imagine leaving a county that should be one of the hardest to get to 150 for the year, but I'd given it a pretty good effort just to bring it from 139 to 147. The Lincoln's Sparrows had been given plenty of time to show themselves. Additionally, there was time left in the day to finish off Cowlitz County, something that would pave the way for an easier end to the year. 

Lunch was mostly good. Good bean soup. Good chili. Randy got a breakfast sandwich with a choice of meats. He chose sausage. He got an egg between two pieces of bread! That said, it's really the only time service has slipped there on my stops. I wouldn't hesitate to stop there on future trips!

Cowlitz

Longview Mint Farm

First stop - the Longview Mint Farm. This wasn't a proper stop, but a quickie for Lincoln's Sparrows (148 for Cowlitz - my first new bird in the county since I found a Cliff Swallow back in late July!). They were a pretty easy find in the blackberry brambles. Although Lincoln's Sparrows. . . it seems they give you a short window for viewing, and then they're just gone gone gone. The pic below. . . I'm just really sorry. I mean, what kind of jerk even includes a picture like that in a blog? This kind of jerk. :)

But let's be honest. The back of this bird does look like a Lincoln's Sparrow. I've been trying to notice things like that. . . well, at least a little bit more. It seems like there are the usual field marks to look for with any bird. But what if those marks aren't visible. . . ? So, although I saw the bird better than this picture shows, I'm still happy with the picture.

From here, we made a beeline for Woodland Bottoms. 

Woodland Bottoms. . . dang it, where are you hiding the Rough-legged Hawks? I know it's a bit early for them now, but this has been one of the "easier" birds eluding me this year. Them and the Meadowlarks. My eyes were peeled for these species as we drove.

Apparently this ferry can take you from the mouth of the Columbia River to the Snake River. . .
for only 5000 dollars!

Once again, Russ and Becky pulled over, and pointed excitedly at the fields to the East. I got out with equal excitedliness, wondering what bird was going to be 149. . . 

Great Egret. 

:) 

I was glad to see that my birding companions for the day had now fully embraced this magnificent bird and had no compunctions against playing with my hopes. Becky had done the birding equivalent of rickrolling me. 10/10.

But during a similar pull over, we once again found some Western Meadowlarks down in the fields (149!). 

We tried the Columbia for a bit, hoping for a Common Loon, or a Western Grebe. We got the latter, but the bird was across the river in Oregon. An interesting thing happened at that point. Universally, the people in the group asked me if I wanted to count the bird. I did not, (all of my counted birds on all lists are *in* the county, rather than just viewed from the county), but this was a nice example of "your list is your list" in practice. 

My lists are more rigorous than some because of this self-imposed rule. It's also less rigorous than others lists, because I do count heard-only birds. Some people will only count a bird that is seen. Others will only count birds that are photographed! While these different degrees of rigor can lead to elitism, the countermeasures against that elitism are simple: Your list is your list. I already knew that I was in good company on this particular day, but this was a nice confirmation of that assessment. 

We continued to the area of Martin's Bar where Horned Larks are often found. Russ and Becky both noted that they had not been seen in several weeks, but I certainly didn't mind getting to know Woodland Bottoms a little better. The beach itself is one place to look for these birds; they can also be found in the larger area, back from the river a little, which had been filled in with dredge.

 

We didn't turn up any larks and continued along the dike road to Austin Point. 

I have no idea how everyone else found the Greater White-fronted Geese 93 million miles out into the field, but they did. I got a look through the spotting scope. 150!

Roughly 4 Greater White-fronted Geese here. Barely visible!

We saw one or two of these: 
Smoky-winged Ash Aphid
I'd seen them before (in swarms)
but finally got around to identifying 
them. So pretty! *not my photo!

This was pretty big. It would make the rest of the year easier. Not easy. . . easier. Wahkiakum, where I was 3 birds short of 150, and Skamania, where I was 4, both had me spooked. Spooked is kind of a strong word. No ills would befall me if I miss 150 species in any of these counties. That said. . . I mean, it really is the goal to see 150 species in a year for every county in the state. I'd set aside this year for four counties. If I missed any of them, I'd likely make another run at them down the road. And the clock of life is ticking! 

So, Cowlitz joined the list: King, Thurston, Island, Mason, Chelan, Kittitas, Snohomish, Yakima, Lewis, Pierce, Douglas, Klickitat. . . and now Cowlitz County were all places where I'd dedicated enough attention for a year and picked up 150 species. 26 left! :D Although, I'm quite happy to stay focused on the idea of "3 left!". It's "only" 11 birds left that I have to find for the year (4 each in Clark and Skamania, and 3 in Wahkiakum), but . . . this was close enough to still have me sweating. We'll leave it at that. 

I had the chance to keep birding with Becky and Russ but thought it would be even better to get home at a reasonable hour and celebrate a few great days of birding. 

One county down!

October 12th-13th - Putting the Kayak in Wahkiakum

Okay, the spelling's not perfect. 

I made a trip to try to get Wahkiakum and Cowlitz counties… closer? Close enough? Finished?? I clearly got this goal – to see 150 species in four counties in the Southwest corner of Washington State – fairly well dialed in. I believe this because we’re in October, and I may or may not reach that goal! You can look at lists of birds and put codes on them and “expect” them, but birds fly.

Entering the weekend: Cowlitz 147, Wahkiakum 139, Clark 146, Skamania 146. 22 birds away from the end of a year-long journey.

I was meeting with Andrew Emlen and Jake Bonello Saturday morning to do some kayaking. On Friday, I got some writing work done, did some packing, and set off in some glorious post-lunch traffic out of Renton. In retrospect, leaving earlier and plugging in along the way would have been ideal, but it’s always hard to leave town with work hanging over me.

I was headed to Woodland Bottoms when I got a text on my phone… Andrew had found a *good* warbler in his backyard. An American Redstart! This was a Wahkiakum County first. "I'm on my way." I texted, changing settings on my GPS.

Andrew did text to clarify that he had been unable to relocate it. I still changed plans slightly, heading to Willow Grove, West of Longview, rather than Woodland. I knew there would be fewer birds here but thought the savings in gas would be an additional benefit.

You’ll never guess what I got at Willow Grove

Wet. Really that was about it. 3 billion Golden-crowned Sparrows, a half-billion American Goldfinches, and a couple of Red-tailed Hawks. It was fun, admittedly, to see the places I’d birded at the start of the year, looking at them with a bit more familiarity. There just weren’t many birds to see! Not in the fields (a little early for the Rough-legged Hawks that have continued to elude me), and not on the water (lacking a nice West wind, some of the loonier and grebe-ier things weren’t exactly getting pushed all the way to Longview.

I gave myself a better chance of finding some of the sparrows by pulling off at the Willow Grove Pumpkin Patch. I had a good chat with the owner before walking the fields, talking about what a slow season it had been. On this drizzly afternoon, a place like Willow Grove would get few families. Because there’s only one road in, it’s not really on the way to anywhere, so they aren’t getting the oh-hey-look-a-pumpkin-patch traffic that other places might get. So, a five-hour day waiting at the patch might only be for a handful of people.

Golden-crowned Sparrow

It was really quite a lovely patch. They had pumpkins, of course, as well as other varieties of squash, and lots of tomatoes at the end of the season. One customer bought up a lot of those for salsa and tomato sauce. They also had a nice field of sunflowers that was *very* birdy. Song Sparrows, Spotted Towhees, White- and Golden-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos and American Goldfinches were all quite happy to have sunflower seeds to eat. At this point, I was really hoping for a Lincoln’s Sparrow, or something even rarer like a Harris’s Sparrow or American Tree Sparrow. But as noted, all I got was wet.

AND a butternut squash for myself, and . . . I can’t say what the other beautiful squash was, but I got one as a thanks-for-the-bed gift for the Emlens.

I headed back to Longview to gas up and get some dinner. I sat down at the bar and ended up next to two men about fifteen years older and younger than me. Both were local, and they somehow got talking about the entire history of the area as I sat and listened.

Folks. . . let me take a moment to make fun of my brain. Lots of interesting things go on in there, and some odd, sometimes interesting, and sometimes beautiful things come out of it. But oh gosh it’s bad at holding onto new information. It’s like… pouring water into a little cup. And pouring more. . . and more. . . At some point, that water is *not* staying in the cup. I got there pretty quickly! I did learn that Longview was founded by R.A. Long (yes… there are some long views from some places, but that’s not where it got its name!), and the whole area looked *much* different before the construction of Lake Sacajawea, and the system of canals running through town (I’d birded some of these along the north end of Longview earlier in the year). They talked about the 100^th anniversary which is being celebrated this year. About who went to school with whom, where the fish were biting, what businesses had recently closed, etc. etc.

What a gift to be able to get this firsthand, and to see the excited conversation between two locals about the history of their town. Even across a few generations, they had things that brought them together.

I made it a slow dinner. I knew the Walmart parking lot was nearby and saw no benefit in making it a long night there. The conversation was good, and I learned that karaoke night was starting at 9 (!!!). As people left, new people arrived, and I had some *good* conversations with a retired electrical engineer who had worked the dams along the Columbia, with a longshoreman/musician, and a visitor from Cathlamet who had come into town for some more serious shopping. I like being able to get the flavor of a county from evenings like this. What a gift.

And at one point, I got talking with a couple (after karaoke night had begun, and I’d gotten the Georgia Satellites out of my system) about my plans for the evening.

“You’re sleeping in your car… in the Walmart parking lot.”

“Yes.”

….

“No. You are not.”

“But. . . “

“No. You are not.”

So, I ended up with a bed for the night in Longview. I was asleep soon after arriving and had to be out the door early to meet with Andrew and Jake. So, I never had a chance to say thank you. All I can do is say here that I was, and am, thankful for generous souls out there in the world.

Wocky Ockum

I made a Burger King stop to get some coffee and breakfast before heading to Andrew’s place. Our original plan had been to meet at the kayak shop, but we wanted to give the American Redstart a chance. 7 A.M. sounded good to all parties. I was late . . . arriving at 7:20 or so, but to be fair, the sun was still not up!

From out stop at the kayak shop as we loaded up

Over the course of the morning, we *may* have had some chip notes that seemed at times to be American-redstart-y, but nothing definitive. The first warbler we saw was a Townsend’s. Pine Siskin (140 for the year) and Red Crossbill (141), are not “exciting” birds in the same sense, but man was I happy to hear them! With as many birds as I needed to reach my goal, these finches had made me nervous for most of the year. Finches are perfectly capable of doing that. Siskins (and their close cousins – the redpolls) are notorious for having irruptive years, or years when they are completely absent.

Scrub-Jays and Towhees kept us on our toes as well, but we eventually looked at the time and hit the road.

Altoona

Whereas Andrew might normally put in with clients at a less rough-and-rustic point, we used the best spot along Altoona-Pigeon Point Road. Before getting in the kayaks, we did some scoping, and found another new bird for my year, Surf Scoter (142).

We eyed Rice Island excitedly. There were so many possibilities awaiting us out there! While only the Eastern end was part of Washington State, the list still included Sanderling, Horned Lark, Lapland Longspur, Brown Pelican, American Pipit, Dunlin, among other birds. In the water, Ruddy Duck, all three scoters, and Pacific Loon were on our radar as well.

As we were loading dry bags into the kayaks, we stopped and watched hundreds and hundreds of Northern Pintails fly by. Then we watched it again. “How many Pintails were there?”, you ask? “All of them.”

Northern Pintails - photo courtesy of Jake Bonello

But we had an East wind. For people like me, who never talk about the direction of the wind, let me clarify: This means that the wind is going *from* the East… to the West. I’ll let you step through that slowly, with accompanying hand motions to help you out, as I needed to do. Now think about the Columbia River, and all of those saltwater birds we were hoping for. An East wind is going to keep them further downriver, near the mouth, and the Pacific Ocean.

Columbia River near Altoona

So our hopes were not too high for river birds! But we got loaded up in the kayaks and got going at around 9:30. Andrew did a brief version of his safety speech, getting me to move my knees out to the edges of the kayak, and having me rock the boat with my hips to help me get a feel for the control I had. Even in a double-kayak (Jake in back, me in front), there were chances to topple if we didn’t think through some of these things in advance. Wave from the side, lean into it. Keep paddling – it gives you another point of stability. Keep your center of mass low. If the canoe rolls, lean forward.

Just being able to get all of this coaching was a gift, honestly. Bird lists aside, I kept reminding myself over the course of the morning that *these* kinds of experiences were also part of the reason that I do these silly years.

The rain held back as we paddled, and I found that I’d dressed just about perfectly for the temperature/exertion levels. Every once in a while, I’d let my hand drag through the water, and found that it was warmer than I’d expected as well. The wind from the East picked up a little bit. It was interesting how the contour of the shore affected this. As we stayed close to shore, things were quite calm. Any time we had to head much further out, the waves grew a little bit.

We decided to stay close to shore to explore a little arch. As we paddled towards it, we picked up some occasional birds at close range: Common Loons, Double-crested Cormorants, Horned Grebes, and some gulls, including Short-billed (Jake’s 170^th life bird in the county!). Up in some trees, we caught a Band-tailed Pigeon, and a Peregrine Falcon.

But most of it was easy paddling. I learned to get more efficient, pushing with my top hand, rather than only pulling the paddle. Jake and Andrew talked about geology, and. . . goodness I had nothing to add here. I listened as they talked about volcanism, the Missoula Floods, the movement of the Continental shores, local features formed by the Yellowstone hotspot, and formation of deep trenches out of the mouth of the Columbia. Please see the note above regarding my brain and glasses of water, but it was beautiful to just sit back and watch these two men patch together their knowledge and discuss the features around them.

We got to the arch, and paddled through it – sandstone on one side, basalt on the other. I checked with Andrew and confirmed that their boundary contained metamorphic rock where the rising basalt would have heated the sandstone. Just past the opening, we got out of the canoes, stretched, and had some lunch (mine… courtesy of Andrew, as I’d come unprepared). We found different pieces of a sea lion skeleton on the small beach we used and talked at length about laws regarding these bones (not something that we could keep).

Columbia River Kayaking
in Skamokawa

We hit the water once more, with the winds just high enough that we decided not to do Rice Island. We debated this for a bit, and it was a hard decision, but the time spent, and the danger added to the day (a day where Jake’s wife had kindly loaned him out while she watched their young kids), were too great, and the birding potential, given the wind direction was not great enough. So, we paddled straight back to our put-in point.

Of course… *of course* as we got close to our destination, things calmed down, and we looked across glassy water at Rice Island, wind at our backs. But none of us doubted that this was the wise decision for the day.

We extricated ourselves from the Columbia, and passed the kayaks back up over the bank, loading them up on the kayak company van. We then took a different way back, along Barr Road, hoping for Dunlin, or perhaps some new geese for my year. We lucked out nearly at the end of the drive, right before the road rejoined Highway 4, with a flock of Greater White-fronted Geese, some still showing extensive black on their belies.

Jake and Andrew investigating trees 

It was a short drive from there to Julia Butler Hansen Refuge. Jake is the manager for the refuge, and conversations shifted seamlessly from geology to biology. Invasives, natives, and the solutions to controlling invasives were the biggest themes.

As we drove into the refuge, a Red-shouldered Hawk flew over the road - the first of two that afternoon. Black Phoebes, another common bird in this corner of the state, were calling almost constantly from both sides of the White-tail Trail as we walked. We scanned sparrows along the way, and it was almost entirely Golden-crowned and Song Sparrows. Lincoln's Sparrow should have been in the county at this time of year, but we were unable to find any. 

At one point, Andrew and Jake spotted a Wilson's Snipe on the edge of the water. I was completely unsurprised when I failed to see the bird, even as it walked along the shore, with a little cover from the greenery around it. I tried to get closer, and the snipe did what snipes do, popping up, calling, and wheeling aroud the pond. We continued, and a second one popped up... and a third... (species number 144 for the Wahkiakum year). 

Wilson's Snipe - photo courtesy Jake Bonello

Virginia Rails needed no encouragement to start chattering in the reeds. I gave them a call - something between a grunt and a chuckle - and got a few to respond. We had a small number of Mallards, and American Wigeon on the pond, but all-in-all there were few puddle ducks seen throughout the day. 

Then. . . 

!!!!!!

We got a Great Egret. I was quick enough to get a shot over Andrew's shoulder. With a quick dive, I got both of them around the shoulders and wheeled them around to see the bird before it flew. 

I know it's hard to comprehend... how could I see a bird *that* amazing and rare, and still feel a need to keep birding for the day, let alone for the year. I soldiered on, nonetheless. 

Black Phoebe - one of several

We ended up with other reasons to stop birding, as it turned out. Jake needed to get home to see his family, and Andrew got more information about a dinner invitation for the evening. 

It wasn't the original plan to have me included in a 30th birthday celebration, but the family hosting the party at the Inn at Crippen Creek had a more=merrier mentality. The Roadhouse was rented for the occasion, and the family took full advantage of the kitchen, putting together two big pans of paella, an enormous salad, and a classic Swedish princess cake (one of the family members was a professional baker). 

As with the night before, it was just a kindness to be taken in for the evening, and my inner extrovert was certainly fed (not just my body, which was happy to be refueled after the paddling and walking). Many of the guests were from the Portland area, so this was a good cross-cultural experience. I explained where Renton was, taught them how to drop the 't' when saying it, to better sound like a native Rentonian. The space allowed for good party "traffic", if that makes sense, with people moving from kitchen table, to porch, to couch. Sometimes I got pulled into conversations, and at other times, I just watched it swirl around me. 

"I think we're going to head back," Andrew informed me. 

"Ah. I've been asleep for a half hour. Good call," I informed Andrew. 

Not entirely untrue. I suppose my eyes were open, but I had definitely turned a corner, and my brain was shutting down operations for the day. We waved our goodbyes and thanked the hosts. I was asleep so quickly when we arrived at the Emlen's. 

Owl o'clock

I woke when a small number was still taking the lead on the clock. I figured if the weather was good, this was the perfect time to try for Northern Saw-whet Owls which would be migrating through. I stepped outside to the yard and gave some whistles. After a little bit, Andrew popped his head out a window to confirm it was me and I let him know I was going to try driving the road a little. 

West Valley Road had so much great habitat - open areas bordered by thick forested areas. Plenty of water in the form of the creek running through. I tried the "normal" protocol, driving a third of a mile, giving it up to ten-fifteen minutes, and moving up another third of a mile. At each stop, I'd start with calls from small owls, and try larger owls at the end of a stop. In six stops, this pulled in two... maybe three Northern Saw-whet Owls (145), and a Barred Owl. The stars shone through thin clouds, and the air was conveniently still throughout. Near perfect owling.

When I got back, it turned out that Andrew had not gotten back to sleep, so we ended up walking from his place up to the road and relocating one of the owls - a year bird for him, and an owl that he has found far less than annually in recent years. 

Goals are still in reach!