Last week I was stuck in a motel in Seattle in the evenings so I did some
number crunching. I added all birds seen in each county with less than 5
records and divided that by the total species of that county to get
percentages. Here's what I came up with. I was surprised on some, but most
fell right into place as I had figured. The list below begins with the
lowest percent and therefore ends with the highest percent.

6%---Ferry Co.
10%---Garfield Co.
11%---Cowlitz Co.
12%---Columbia Co.
14%---Skamania Co.
14%---Lewis Co.
14%---Mason Co.
14%---Spokane Co.----this one surprised me!
15%---Yakima Co.----and this also was a surprise!
15%---Chelan Co.
15%---Douglas Co.
15%---Island Co.
16%---Kittitas Co.
16%---Okanogan Co.
17%---Stevens Co.
17%---Adams Co.
17%---Jefferson Co.
18%---Pend Oreille Co.
18%---Klickitat Co.
18%---Lincoln Co.
19%---Wahkiakum Co.
19%---Whatcom Co.
20%---Whitman Co.
20%---Grant Co.
21%---Walla Walla Co.
21%---Asotin Co.
22%---Skagit Co.
23%---San Juan Co.
23%---Kitsap Co.
23%---Clark Co.
24%---Pierce Co.
24%---Benton Co.
24%---Grays Harbor Co.
25%---Thurston Co.
25%---Pacific Co.
25%---Clallam Co.
26%---Franklin Co.----surprised it was this high!
26%---Snohomish Co.
27%---King Co.----of course

For the most part this shows where people are birding digging out those
tough ones. So why the numbers? Just to get you motivated into hitting
some of these lesser known counties. Since Ferry Co. was the lowest lets
look a little closer. Sanpoil River Drainage is some of the most beautiful
and highly potential for finding something super. It reminds me of what
they call in Alberta as 'Parkland'. Some hot shot birder in years to come
is going to start digging stuff out of here. Things like Blue-headed
Vireos, Tennessee Warblers, etc. Other great spots include Swawilla Basin
and Friedlander Meadows. Places where rumors have it of Sage Grouse, Great
Gray Owls, and Sharp-tailed Grouse. Along with the more usual White-headed
Woodpeckers, Gray Partridge, Lewis's Woodpeckers, the highest concentration
of Verries in the state, and also tons of Vireos to sort out with Northern
Waterthrushes and American Redstarts to mix your ears up.

So next time you plan on going on a bird trip remember you haven't seen the
best. And May is at its best!

Ken Knittle, Vancouver, WA
washingtonbirder at hotmail.com



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