Natalie and I ventured to the mountains Sunday to see what birds are
still hanging around in the snow-free higher elevations in the blast zone
of the Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. What did we find? Well,
under mostly sunny skies with a steady 20 mph breeze blowing off
Coldwater Lake, we were surprised to find any birds at all.

We found no birds hanging around the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center, but
things picked up on the trails around Coldwater Lake. First we walked the
Birth of a Lake Trail, with views of the white caps rolling across the
lake and toward us on the southern shores of the lake. Birds on the lake:

5 Bufflehead (4 females, 1 male)
2 Grebes ... they appeared to be Eared Grebe from the size and
appearance, but they didn't stay on top of the water long and they were
hard to make our between the white caps...
15 Dark-eyed "Oregon" Junco
3 Song Sparrow
2 Common Raven
1 Winter Wren
1 Spotted Towhee

We also walked part of the Hummocks Trail, and we found a small flock of
Chickadee moving through the parking area as we set out, mixed in with
more juncos.

Even though we have been reading about the lack of snow in the mountains
leading up to last weekend, it was still shocking to see no snow
whatsoever on any of the hills around Mt. St. Helens. The mountain itself
and its glaciers still hold snow and ice, but none of the ridges
surrounding the mountain were capped with white. And temperatures must
not be getting too cold up at 4,000 feet in the South Cascades because we
heard at least three frogs calling in the sunshine yesterday - two along
the shores of Coldwater Lake and one to the north of the Hummocks Trail.

Other birds seen on our Sunday trip included 15 Red-tailed Hawks (9 on
the trip down from Tacoma, 6 on the way home as darkness fell), and there
were two Bald Eagles along the Toutle River near Kid Valley as we drove
back down to I-5. There were also two gulls on the Toutle River in the
same area as the eagles. And as we drove past Silver Lake we saw one
American Kestrel, a pair of Hooded Merganser, two Common Loon, and a few
Pied Billed Grebe.

Have others birded Coldwater Lake and seen grebes in the late fall? I am
really curious what grebe species we were most likely seeing yesterday,
since most grebes this time of the year should be out of the mountains.

Rob McNair-Huff ---------- mailto:rob at whiterabbits.com
White Rabbit Publishing -- http://www.whiterabbits.com
Mac Net Journal ---------- http://www.whiterabbits.com/MacNetJournal/
The Equinox Project ------ http://www.whiterabbits.com/weblog.html