Hi tweets and Phil. Just got back from a week-long expedition with fellow
Gapper Kelly Cassidy to the Blue Mts. and Grande Ronde valley. We took
this trip to conduct some intensive atlassing for the BBA, to examine some
special vegetation types in that area, to trap small mammals, and to try
and find White-crowned Sparrows. The trip was mostly a great success (for
our purposes), with the exception of small mammals (which was sort of a
bust).

Top Ten Highlights of the trip:

1.) We DID find a small population of White-crowned Sparrows on the
northeast face of Mt. Misery. Three singing males could be heard, and one
we watched was singing from territorial perches atop Subalpine Fir and
larch trees (the other two were singing farther away). Additionally, I
believe we saw the mate of this same bird, which came darting out of some
shrubs acting agitated. We tried to collect one but were unsuccessful.
This site is the *same* location where Dick Johnson collected two males of
the _oriantha_ subspecies in late June 1977. These birds had very
enlarged testes, indicative of breeding. The site, should anybody be in
that neighborhood, is in section 35 of T08N R42E, on the south side of FR
4030. It is 1.7 miles west of the intersection with FR 40. The habitat
was a mixture of young larches (20' or less in height), shrubs, and
scattered mature Subalpine Fir. Elevation was roughly 6000'.
Unfortunately Mt. Misery is not noted in the DeLorme, but it is the high
area just east of Diamond Peak. This find, along with Dick Johnson's
specimens, should end debate over the presence of Z. l. oriantha in the
Blue Mts., as suggested by Larrison in 1977 (in Weber and Larrison 1977).
It is likely that _oriantha_ White-crowneds breed on other high peaks in
the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness, assuming anybody wanted to go check this
out. On Tuesday, we dropped off specimens at the Connor Museum (WSU) and
examined their White-crowned specimens, especially the two _oriantha_
specimens from Mt. Misery.

2.) Wilson's Warblers were noted in willow/alder or Douglas Maple thickets
above 4000'. The BBA only has two other records of this species in the
Blue Mts. which had been treated as late migrants. The only other report
I've seen is in Jewett.

3.) An American Dipper incubating its nest along the Tucannon River was
the first BBA record for the Blue Mts. (But note that Weber and Larrison
cite a record also on the Tucannon, and Jewett cites one from the Wenaha).

4.) Gray Jays were noted above 5000', again first records for the BBA from
this region. These birds are of the subspecies P.c. bicolor, and look a
tad different than our Cascades birds (P.c. griseus). This (and the
dipper's) absence from the BBA is a reflection of atlas effort in this
region, especially at high elevations.

5.) A Warbling Vireo singing from within its nest along Buford Creek in
Asotin Co. was extremely cute.

6.) Three Canyon Wrens also along Buford Creek were viewed from a distance
of about 15 feet while they chattered at the racer (Coluber constrictor)
slithering through the rocks (towards what I assumed was a nest). I think
I've heard this bird about 100 times more than I've seen it.

7.) A very cold population of Bufo boreas (toads) was noted at around
6000' at Kelly Camp, just across the road from the White-crowned Sparrow
spot. These guys were *really* slow due to extremely cold water temp.

8.) 'Western' Flycatchers singing both song types were noted, the more
distinct two-part song of Cordilleran noted in conifers, and a single
Pacific-slope type song noted along Buford Creek.

9.) A hot shower at Fields Spring State Park was fantastic after four days
out, as was the hot breakfast at the cafe on the Grande Ronde.

10.) A snowstorm between 4000' and 6000' on Monday was exciting and
unanticipated.

Altogether, we atlassed 28 (mostly unatlassed) quads over a seven-day
period. It was pretty intense! Our route included McNary NWR near
Tri-cities, two nights on the Tucannon River, one night at Teal Springs,
one night near the Mt. Misery summit, one night at Fields Spring State
Park, and a night at the Nendel's in Pullman. We atlassed in the Blue
Mts., the Grande Ronde river valley, Grouse Flat, and in the Palouse in
Whitman Co. (lots-o-wheat). We tried on two nights to find Boreal Owls at
around 5500', but none ever responded to our tapes. Jupiter viewed
through the Questar we borrowed from UW was astounding - you could see the
stripes in its atmosphere.


-------------
Michael R. Smith
Univ. of Washington, Seattle
whimbrel at u.washington.edu
http://salmo.cqs.washington.edu/~wagap/mike.html