On July 2, I decided to check out the Alder Creek area of
Klickitat County. This is in the general area of the W.O.S. Conference
field trip led by Stuart Johnson and Bob Hansen.
While passing by the mouth of the Klickitat River a total of 17
TURKEY VULTURES were noted standing on the sandbar.
I drove up Highway 14 to Crow Butte State Park and the Whitcomb
Island Unit of the McNary N.W.R., both in Benton County. At Crow Butte
there were 22 WHITE PELICANS and 4 CASPIAN TERNS along the causeway. In
the ponds along the entrance road to Whitcomb Island I found 3 GREAT
EGRET, 2 AMERICAN AVOCETS, and 3 BLACK-NECKED STILTS.
I returned to Klickitat County and drove up Alderdale Road, about
3/4 of a mile north of Highway 14 there is a BANK SWALLOW colony just
past the purple sign for a winery. Along this road WESTERN KINGBIRDS and
ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS were fairly common. Near some cattle pens with a
water trough a family group of GRAY PARTRIDGE stood at side of the road
as I drove past them.
I took the Sand Ridge Rd. north in search of some decent patches
of sage which I finally located around and abandoned homestead. I pished
for a few moments and had a pair of SAGE SPARROWS fly down to the road as
they flew off I followed them in my binoculars. They flew directly in
front of a SAGE THRASHER one of my target birds for this outing.
At the intersection of Sand Ridge and Alder Creek Roads there is
a ranch house with extensive plantings including blooming Yuccas and
Chollas. Here a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD was calling loudly from the top of a
dead pine. last year in this general vicinity Stuart Johnson found three
mockingbirds. I drove down Alder Creek Rd. which passes through some
great shrub steppe habitat as I entered the canyon two pair of CHUKARS
ran down the road in front of my vehicle for about a quarter of a mile
before diving down the hillside. Back down at Highway 14 at milepost 145
there were 3 WHITE PELICANS in the Columbia River, another new Klickitat
County bird for me.
Wilson Cady
gorgebirds at juno.com