Subject: Columbia Gorge Birds
Date: Jul 12 12:48:08 2001
From: Wilson Cady - gorgebirds at juno.com


On July 11, I birded up the Gorge again to the far eastern end of
Klickitat County. A stop at Cape Horn in Skamania County to attempt to
put the Black Swifts reported by Ruth and Patrick Sullivan on my county
list produced 2 PEREGRINE FALCONS but no swifts. ( Glenn and Mary Ann
Teague along with my wife and I did see 2 BLACK SWIFTS at Steigerwald
Lake on July 8).
In Klickitat County a stop at the Bingen Pond turned up 2 PURPLE
MARTINS with the mix of swallows there. Further east there were 27 TURKEY
VULTURES and a CASPIAN TERN on the mud flats at the mouth of the
Klickitat River. Along Highway 14 at milepost 123, a FERRUGINOUS HAWK and
a PRAIRIE FALCON soared along the cliff tops while the songs of ROCK WREN
and CANYON WREN echoed of the rocks.
I drove up the Alderdale Road to the Mercer Farms carrot
processing plant where the waste water pond had 32 KILLDEER, 6
BLACK-NECKED STILTS, 1 AMERICAN AVOCET, 2 SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, 9 WESTERN
SANDPIPERS, and a LEAST SANDPIPER.
Since I was in the general area a check on the NORTHERN
MOCKINGBIRD at the northern intersection of Sand Ridge Rd. and Alder
Creek Rd. showed that it is still present. The bird came out of Spring
Canyon to the ranch house where it spent about ten minutes before flying
across the wheat field and down into the canyon again. If you are
searching for this bird you may have to wait awhile for it to make a
feeding trip to the home.
Wilson Cady
gorgebirds at juno.com