Hello - I am submitting this posting to announce a new (this will be its third year) Christmas Count for western Washington, and to invite your participation. I work for the Washington Department of Natural Resources, and my agency sponsors some of the administration of the count (such as this posting).

It is the "Quillayute River" count, on the western Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. The count circle is centered at the origin of the Quillayute River (the confluence of the Bogachiel and Sol Duc Rivers, about 8 miles west of the town of Forks. Forks is about 3 hours by car from Olympia, about 4 hours by car and ferry (if you're lucky) from Seattle. I'm pretty sure we can arrange lodging for anyone who wants to come. I haven't settled on a date yet, but am partial to Saturday the 23rd.

Please contact me directly (my email, phone, and address follows) if you, or someone you know, are interested. We could use some more birders to help establish a baseline of data from this ecologically-important, but little-studied area. The birding is not spectacular, but the scenery or weather will be (scenery is good when weather is nice --- when weather is spectacularly bad the scenery is invisible). We could very easily set high counts for North America for the usual temperate conifer forest species like Varied Thrush, Golden-crowned Kinglet, etc. as well as have the opportunity for neat birds along the wild coast. My goal is 100 species, that will be difficult. We recorded about 80 species the first year and had about 8" of rain and 80 mph winds the next.

For your information, I included some of the information I submitted to the editor when I applied to do the count:

The count circle is on the coastal plain, west of the Olympic Mountains. Elevations range from sea level to 1000', with less than 5% of the total area above 600'. Land ownership/use is 67% private and State (95% commercial forest, 5% agricultural/residential/other developed); 24% Pacific Ocean; 8% Olympic
National Park (wilderness coastal forest/seashore); 1% Quileute Indian Reservation (estuary, residential, port, commercial forest). The count circle encompasses approximately 29 miles of saltwater shore (including that of offshore islands that comprise the Quillayute Needles National Wildlife Refuge); 60 miles of
large streams and rivers; over 50 miles of smaller, fish-bearing streams; and several hundred miles of intermittent or perennial non-fish-bearing streams. The climate is wet and maritime: annual precipitation averages around 100', of which over 3/4 falls between 1 October and 31 March (snow is uncommon); mean daily temperatures in January average 39 degrees F.

Estimates of land cover (expressed as percentages of the entire count circle) are based on analyses of 1991 Landsat imagery (breakdown of forest cover on National Park and private timberlands), 1988 aerial photography (agricultural and
residential cover), and Washington State Department of Natural Resources Geographic Information System land-cover and timber inventory data (stream and coastline mileages, and detailed forest stand composition):

25% salt water: open Pacific Ocean

1% ocean beach: rugged coastline, over 80% is rocky
beaches with the remainder being sandy; sea stacks and small
islands are abundant

19% mature conifer forests: natural stands of conifers over
70 years old; dominated by western hemlock and Sitka spruce,
with the other species named above as occasional components;
tree diameters from 16-120", heights from 120' to over 200';
understory vegetation varies from sparse to complex with
shrubs, and small and medium-sized trees

26% young-aged conifer forests: dense stands of western
hemlock, Douglas-fir, Sitka spruce, western red cedar,
and Pacific silver fir; 15-69 years old; regenerated
following timber harvest; tree diameters from 6-24",
heights from 30-140'; little understory.

23% forb/shrub/open-sapling stages of clearcuts:
regenerating commercial forest stands from 0-15 years old;
conifer species as above but with a high proportion of cover
from grasses, forbs, and shrubs (especially huckleberries,
red elderberry, and salmonberry Rubus); shrubs are up to 15'
tall, trees up to 30' tall

2% red alder forest: upland stands, variously mixed with young
conifers; ages from 15-50 years; diameters 6-24", heights 30-70';
often a well-developed understory in these deciduous stands,
usually salmonberry and sword fern

1% riparian forest: a distinct mixed-forest of Sitka
spruce, western hemlock, red alder, black cottonwood,
and big-leaf maple occurs along some river reaches;
understory is well-developed with vine maple, devils'
club, salmonberry, and other shrubs

1% fresh water: about 3/4 of the surface area of fresh
water is on rivers and large streams, 15% on small streams,
and 10% on small lakes and ponds

1% pasture: upland hayfields

1% residential: the western 1/3 of the town of Forks and all
of the town of La Push (on the Quileute Reservation) are
within the count circle; dispersed, rural residences are
scattered along the 3 paved roads in the area


Thanks. Hope to hear from some of you.

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Scott Horton
WA State Department of Natural Resources
Olympic Region
411 Tillicum Lane
Forks, WA 98331

phone: (360) 374-2826
fax: (360) 374-5446
email: shff490 at wadnr.gov
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