Tweeters,

Denny Granstrand visited an area east of Mt. Rainier in the Wenatchee
National Forest after I viewed a small burn from a distant ridgetop while
engaged in the Kittitas County Breeding Bird Atlas project. I was in the
"Lower Milk Creek" block (T17N R14E NE) on an afternoon and early evening
census. I'd spent the morning of 13 June in the northern sections of this
block, an area that has been pretty heavily selectively logged. The
southern portion which is south of Milk Creek has more extensive tracts of
mid-elevation forest intact (thanks to the Spotted Owl, I believe).

I birded Forest Road (FS) 1705 which goes uphill southeast from Milk Pond
to FS 581 (technically closed due to eashouts and barriers), eventually
reaching FS 583 on the steep ridge west of Devils Slide. Here I parked and
walked uphill in the dense mid-elevation forest.

The only scarce species dependent on mature forests that I detected along
the north-facing section of this route was Pileated Woodpecker, though the
dense grand fir forest looked good for Spotted Owl. Chestnut-backed
Chickadee, Hermit Thrush, and Townsend's Warbler, also favoring wet
forests, were seen or heard along this stretch. My Wenatchee National
Forest map is evidently a little out-of-date, because the road ascends the
ridge and wraps around to the upper south slopes which overlook the upper
Spring Creek basin. On my map, the road is merely a short spur off FS 1705.
We are reminded there is really only one reason for roads in our national
forests and that is to gain access for logging. And these roads are
continually being lengthened to get farther into uncut timber.

On this open, south-facing slope grown mostly to Ponderosa pine, I was
rewarded with one nest each of Williamson's Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpecker,
and Mountain Bluebird, all in snags. Parent birds of all these species were
busy commuting to somewhat distant (out of view) feeding areas and
returning every few minutes with food for their clamoring chicks. Other
species noted here included: Steller's Jay, Clark's Nutcracker, Mountain
Chickadee, Warbling Vireo, Townsend's Solitaire, Chipping Sparrow,
Dark-eyed Junco, and Cassin's Finch (with recently fledged young).

The views from the end of FS 583 were simply stunning, well worth the hike
had I seen no birds at all.
Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, the Goat Rocks were off in the distance, closer and
far below was the Spring Creek basin. I was immediately drawn to the mosaic
of forest below, a landscape that had apparently not been too ravaged by
the chain saw. Then, on a minor ridge at the south end of the basin, I
noted a small burn. It appeared a "low intensity" burn, due to the fact
that scorched branchlets and needles still appeared to clothe the trees and
there was no downed timber. I hadn't heard of this fire, so mentioned it to
Denny, as I knew he wanted to see Black-backed Woodpecker and this site
appeared "perfect."

Denny had the time to explore this area and recounted in a post to Tweeters
10 July:

> At Andy Stepniewski's request and with his directions, I investigated a
> small burn between Hwy 410 and Forest Road 1705 about forty miles west of
> Yakima this morning.
>
> Forest Road 1705 takes off north from Hwy 410 at Whistling Jack Lodge.
> Take 1705 about 4.6 miles to the first main fork in the road. Take the
> righthand fork, go fifty yards and park at a gate blocking a small spur
road.
>
> I walked south on the spur road about 3/4 of a mile. The road turned
west
> for the last 100 yards and ended on top of a very short ridge. The
> consisted of little fingers of burned trees with lots of undamaged
> trees spread throughout the burned area.
>
> When I got to the end of the road I stopped to take a look around and
almost
> immediately heard a wookpecker tapping. I noticed many trees with the
> tell-tale sign of Three-toed and/or Black-backed Woodpeckers: lots of
newly
> uncovered patches of bark shinning against the black, burned trees.
>
> Within two minutes I spotted one BBWO, and then another on the same tree.
I
> was able to watch them for nearly ten minutes as they worked their way
> around and up the large Ponderosa Pine.
>
> I walked further out the ridge but found no more woodpeckers. There
seemed
> to be quite of lot of burned trees in the area but surverying the entire
> area would be hard work as it would require much climbing down and back
up
> the sides of the ridge. I was content to scan about for a while.
>
> Being on the top of the ridge made it nice for tooting in birds since
they
> landed in the tops of trees that were just barely over eye-level.
>
> On my way back to the car I ran into another BBWO, this time in an area
of
> live trees well away from the burned areas.
>
> Also there:
>
> Pygmy Owl - heard tooting in the distance
> Northern Flicker
> Common Raven
> Mountain Chickadee
> Red-breasted Nuthatch
> Western Bluebird
> Townsend's Solitaire - many of them
> Hermit Thrush
> American Robin
> Yellow-rumped Warbler
> Dark-eyed Junco
> Cassin's Finch
> Pine Siskin

> Denny Granstrand
> Yakima, WA

I felt very rewarded by Denny's discovery of the charismatic Black-backed
Woodpecker, that unpredictable nomad of the east-side forests.

Thanks are also due to Hal Opperman's energy, drive, and determination in
spearheading the Kittitas County Breeding Bird Atlas Project. I wouldn't
have been out there to spy on this hidden burn without Hal's persistence. I
imagine I speak for all of us engaged in this and similar atlasing projects
that it's chance discoveries like this that make it all worth while. Hal's
vision, my far-off spying, and Denny's determined ground work resulted in
discovery of Black-backed Woodpeckers only two hours from Seattle.

If you haven't seen this species, this site sounds like a pretty safe bet
for this season. Next year it may not be; the post-fire bark beetle
explosion that attracts Black-backs may have run its course and our nomads
may be off to another hidden burn.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA