Greetings all,

Keith Brady called to let me know that he saw Mountain Quail at the location
in the Capitol Forest that Charlie Wright and myself had them a couple weeks
back.
So in case anyone else is interested in going for these birds, I thought I'd
do my best at giving directions to the location. The roads are a bit
tricky, as there are several forks, and sometimes logging equipment in the
way, but here goes:

Directions to Mountain Quail in Thurston County:

Go West from Olympia on Hwy 101, continue going west when you get to the Hwy
8 change.
Take Rock Candy Mountain Road (Left side turnoff) off Hwy 8.

Stay on the main dirt road for a couple of miles. You'll go for a few miles
then come to a clearing at a "T" with some powerlines overhead. Go LEFT.

You'll immediately come to another fork in the road. Take the LEFT fork.

You'll continue up this portion for a while, with some minor turn offs on
your left hand side, but stay on the main road. Then you'll eventually come
to a fork in the road. Take the LEFT fork, should be a sign that says "C-4"

You'll come to another road that veers off to the left. Stay Right.

There will then be a clearing with some logging machinery around, and what
looks like an intersection. Continue straight, and the road will eventually
get rather steep and climb elevation rather quickly. At the top of the hill
there will be a clearing with lots of gravel and steep banks. This is where
the Mountain Quail are.

Listen for their distinctive loud, rising Quark! Call.

If you do go, try to get up there as early as you can. Mountain Quail tend
to call most often during the first few hours of light.
Also, try to go on a weekend. There is heavy logging activity in the area
during the week. Tom Aversa and I tried to get up there yesterday at around
6:00AM but we were stifled by a very large piece of logging equipment
blocking the road. But a male Hermit Warbler did entertain us by singing
from the very top of a Doug Fir.

This area is also just a great place to bird even if you don't get the
Quail. Hermit Warblers abound in this area, though they tend to stay in the
tree tops. Ruffed Grouse will sometimes be sitting in the road, as will
Blue Grouse. Gray Jays can sometimes be seen, and many Band-tailed Pigeons
fly through these dark woods. Willow Flycatchers, and MacGillivray's
Warblers breed in the clearcut areas.

Owling is also pretty good up here. During our big ago, we had several
Northern Saw-Whet, Northern Pygmy, and in the Aspen groves, W. Screech-Owl.

Cheers and Good Birding
Ryan

----Ryan Shaw
----Lacey, Washington
----rtshaw80 at hotmail.com
----(360) 491-1084
----AIM: RTShaw80

----------This machine will not communicate,
---These thoughts and the strain I am under,
------------Be a world child, form a circle,
---------------------Before we all go under,
-------------------------And fade out again
~Radiohead~


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