Tweeters,

Today (5 July), I located a pair of adult White-headed Woodpeckers feeding
young at their nest in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The location
was in extreme southwestern Yakima County on Forest Road 80 1.3 miles north
of the junction of Forest Roads 80 and 82 (north of Trout Lake which is in
Skamania County). I believe this site qualifies as the "west slopes of the
Cascades." The location is T7N R10E Sec. 25. The nest snag is in the first
snags visible on the east side of Forest Road 80 as you head north on 80
from the 80/82 junction. As you enter the regenerating clearcut, you'll
notice two snags on the east side of the road: one is a short, thick grand
fir, the other a taller ponderosa pine. The nest hole is in the grand fir.

The habitat here is mostly mature Douglas fir and grand fir, with a few
mature ponderosa pines and western larch. There are many vine maples in the
clearcut. Also noted here were House Wren (5+), Lazuli Bunting (2+) and
'pugetensis' White-crowned Sparrows (3+).

Though this area is on the west slopes of the Cascade crest, it seems some
elements of a flora typical of eastern Washington "wrap" west around Mt.
Adams south slopes to just about Trout Lake. The actual west slopes of the
mountain are mantled in a more westside flora, except on recent lava flows.
Because of the recent lava flows that occur here and there in the forest
belt around Mt. Adams, it seems a complex mosaic of vegetation communities
exist on this imposing mountain, perhaps more so than on Mt. Rainier, which
is 40 miles to the north. Eastside birds can thus establish a toehold on
the westside in this area.

I had expected to see Hermit Warblers, as I usually do, but encountered
none. I did note, however, numerous singing Nashville Warblers in even-aged
lodgepole pines at the 4,500-5,000' level on the road to Bird Creek
Meadows. I found Nashville Warblers using this habitat in lodgepoles west
of Glenwood on Mt. Adams east slopes several years ago also. After
observing eastern Nashville Warblers in Manitoba boreal thickets (Riding
Mtn. Nat'l Park), it occurs to me these Mt. Adams Nashvilles are more akin
to their eastern cousins in terms of habitat choice as opposed to the
brushy hillside birds that most western Nashvilles seem to choose. Maybe
these birds beg for DNA analysis. There is some talk of splitting these two
subspecies.

Finally, the route from Packwood south to Trout Lake is really a beautiful
drive. There are significant tracts of really impressive oldgrowth along
the way, interesting second growth and regenerating forest (as I related
above), dramatic views of Mt. Adams with its glaciers and avalanche
chutes, and lots of rushing creeks. It's probably as lengthy a forest drive
as I've come across in Washington that was scenic all the way. Not a mini
mart or sign of habitation for 50 miles! The road is mostly excellent grade
forest road; however south of the Cispus River up to Olallie Lake, it is
rougher, but still passable to 2-wheel vehicles. There's lots of places to
take side roads to explore nearby lakes. Not to mention hiking
opportunities.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA