Today, July 4, Jim Pruske and I birded from Woods Creek to Trail 216D on
the east side of Mt. St. Helens with the buntings being are target
birds. From constant winds to still heat, we managed to produce a very
productive day of birding.
We stopped at Woods Creek briefly on the way in and spent some time
exploring the trail on the way back.
Here are some of the birds seen at Woods Creek.
Warbling Vireo
Black Throated Gray Warbler
Western Tanager
Bullocks Oriole

We then headed on to Windy Ridge with a stop at Meta Lake. This area was
quite productive in the number of species seen.
Here are some of the birds seen at Meta Lake.
4 Mountain Bluebirds
2 Black Swifts
1 Northern Roughed Winged Swallow
Fox Sparrow (several)
1 Willow Flycatcher

Once we got to the Windy Ridge parking lot, we packed our gear and
headed down the trail (Trail 216). The wind is constant and gusty at
times. The most wind relief is on trail 216 just as you leave the
parking lot, and about 1/4 of mile before you get to the Trail 216D
junction, but it's not totally wind free. The only birds we could hear
singing were, Juncos and White Crowned Sparrows, until we came to the
log ladder on trail 216D. That's when we heard buntings singing.
Here are some of the birds we had on the trails.
1 American Kestrel (parking lot)
2 Mountain Bluebirds (trail 216)
1 Townsend Solataire (trail 216)
7 Lazuli Buntings (4 on trail 216D and 3 on trail 216 on the way out.
Possibly some of the same ones seen on trail 216D)

On the way home we had 4 Turkey Vultures.
2 - adults in Randle
2 - 5 miles east of Morton on Hwy 12

Dave Hayden
Lakewood WA
dtvhm at nwrain.com