I signed up for tweeters and OBOL a couple weeks back, to begin to
get me ready for a trip to the great northwest. Since I'm leaving
the day after tomorrow, this is my last chance to post any queries
and be here to get the replies.

I spent a good deal of my life living in the NW, but didn't start
birding until later. So, I've got a fair amount of visiting (with
non-birders) around and about. And opportunities to rediscover a
well-known region of the country in a different way. There's lots
of lifebirds to be had, so I'm not sure if a "target list" is worth
the trouble. But here, I've just thrown one together: White-Headed
Woodpecker, Black-Backed Woodpecker, Pacific Slope Flycatcher,
Townsend's Warbler, Hermit Warbler, Mountain Quail, Trumpeter Swan
(?), Harlequin Duck, Oldsquaw (?), Chukar, Spruce Grouse, Ruffed
Grouse, Sage Grouse (?), Yellow Rail (?), Virginia Rail, Rock
Sandpiper (?), Glaucous Gull (?), Arctic Tern (?), Great Gray Owl,
Vaux's Swift, Calliope Hummingbird, Red-Breasted Sapsucker, Purple
Martin, Yellow-Billed Magpie, Tri-Colored Blackbird, Brown Creeper
(currently my leading nemesis bird), Veery, Varied Thrush, Wrentit,
Cassin's Vireo, Bobolink, Rosy Finches (any), Purple Finch,
White-Winged Crossbill, Lawrence's Goldfinch (?).

Also, is there any remnant of the great Bristle-Thighed Curlew
invasion still around anywhere? I've not included pelagic birds on
the wish list, as it doesn't matter what I "want", what I'll see is
what's there on the day I go.

And, as you can see, there's a substantial array of species not
found in my area which I've never seen. I have a great love of
getting a feel for habitat. So, more than directions to any
species, I'd like suggestions of places where I'll learn something
of a place/habitat, and (secondarily) where I'm likely to run into
something from my lengthy list of species never seen. (Perhaps I'll
bite off a big part of the distance from 400 to 500 on the ABA area
life list?)

Here's my rough itinerary:
July 31 to August 2, hard focused driving to get to N. California
(E. side of Mt. Shasta) for a conference that goes through the 5th.
August 6-8: requisite family doings in Tacoma. Reality is, there'll
be little time to bird then. I'll be based out of Tacoma until the
12th, when I'll head down to the coast for a pelagic out of Westport
(already confirmed.)

I can fit in some birding between Mt. Shasta and Tacoma on the
5th/6th. I'm leaning towards Tule Lake NWR, but am also open to
suggestions of other spots in the Klamath Basin NWRs.

Only short excursions out of Tacoma will be possible. Perhaps I'll
try some spots I visited in the winter back in 1994. I'll probably
head to Olympia, including to visit a non-birder friend who wants to
"take a hike".

I may race up to Marymount, near Cascade NP. Friend there claims to
be interested in learning something about birding. Where can an
out-of-towner take a local beginner that will be enjoyable for both?

August 15, event in Seaside, Or. After Westport, I'll be based in
Astoria, probably until the 16th, when I'll head inland to
Portland. I've got friends wanting the excuse to take a hike, but
without much in the way of birding interest, so I'll have to balance
somehow. I will be travelling with spare binoculars, so perhaps
that will help?

I'm allowing several days for travel home -- some freedom for
birding along the way. The route has not been chosen, though I have
interest in either the Klamath Refuge complex, or in a return to
Malheur NWR, where I visited last summer at roughly the same time.
On the other hand, I could focus more on California, heading east
farther south. That would give me the chance to see YB Magpie - the
relation of the locally ubiquitous BB Magpie around home. Truth is,
I may not decide until the time comes. Depends on whether I have a
stronger hankering for the desert or for the ocean.

That's the skeleton of the trip. I'm wide open to suggestions. Got
any?
--
Elizabeth Winter
Taos, New Mexico
ewinter at newmex.com

"Never try to teach a pig to sing.
It only annoys the pig, and you waste your time."
- Suzette Mills (who may have quoted from elsewhere)