Subject: Clark Co. birding
Date: Jun 23 08:44:38 2002
From: Ruth Sullivan - GODWIT at worldnet.att.net


Hello Tweets,

Yesterday(June 22nd)Ken Knittle,and my mother and I birded several portions
of Clark Co.,starting the the River S Unit of the Ridgefield NWR at 7:30am
then continuing east towards Silver Star Mountain on the edge of the
Clark-Skamania Co. line. Ken and my mother and I drove the "loop" drive
around the River S Unit one time,then we were later joined by Mike and
MerryLynn Denny and decided to help them work on their Clark Co. list by
driving the loop again and encountering a few additional species not seen on
the first loop drive. The weather throughout the entite day was much more
favorable than in past days with cloudy skies with partial clearing late in
the day as we headed back from the eastern part of the county. At the the
River S Unit Unit of the Ridgefield NWR we encountered relatively few
species due to the season,BUT a few highlights that were encountered
included the following:

20 Great Egrets(high count)
5 Am.Bitterns(with one adult male displaying along the sounthern portion of
the loop drive)
2 male Green-winged Teal(scarce in summer at this location)
88+ Blue-winged Teal(high count that greatly outnumbered nearby Cinnamon
Teal at this location)
7 Northern Shoveler
14 Am.Wigeon
17 Ring-necked Ducks
3 GREATER SCAUP(2 males and 1 female,and possibly lingering or oversummering
birds from the nearby Columbia River)
2 Lesser Scaup
1 male BUFFLEHEAD in apparent eclipse plumage(rare in summer)
11 Ruddy Ducks
2 Northen Harriers
5 BLACK TERNS
good numbers of "winnowing" and calling Common Snipe overhead, and the
ground
2+ families of calling Great Horned Owls
1 Pileated Woodpecker
2 Pacific-slope Flycatchers
8+ Northern Rough-winged Swallows
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
10+ Yellow-headed Blackbirds

After 11am Mike and Merry Lynn Denny joined Ken,and my mother and I and we
all continued east to Moulton Falls County Park,where we encountered 3
immature AM.DIPPER along the Lewis River,then a few passerines in the
eastern part of the park that included 1 Hammond's Flycatcher, 2+
Black-throated Gray Warblers,and 1 Evening Grosbeak flying over. We then
continued east then south along the Dole Valley Rd. towards Pyramid
Rock,which is paved the first portion then turns to dirt/gravel the
remainder of the road into the Gifford-Pinchot National Forest along Rock
Creek,where we observed a pair of Hutton's Vireos among a few other forest
species. We were mainly just driving around in search of any mountain
species and at several points were able to see Sturgeon Rock and Silver Star
Mountian to the north of us. We did encountered relatively good numbers of
HERMIT WARBLERS along the forest road the we drove on,including several at
fairly close range among other forest species in the immediate area,but the
main highlight was a single female Purple Martin flying high over the road
at an undetermined elevation,but this bird did not remain. The forest roads
in the area are relatively unmarked at most points(alos going by the DeLorme
Atlas),but the bird was in an area south of Pyramid Rock within Clark Co.
and it is possible this species could breed in realtively remote forest
areas with good amounts of exposed snags or nesting cavaties available. The
area is worth more exploration,especially in the Siver Star Mountain region
for possible additional mountain species such as Rock Wren that has been
documented breeding in this area in past years. On the way back to
Vancouver,we encountered a single Cooper's hawk for our last species of the
day.

Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net