Jim Pruske and I birded the NW corner of the Mt. St. Helens area today.
We stopped at the Silver Lake visitors center first. We saw;
pair of Ospreys
2 Bald Eagles
1 Wood Duck
1 Turkey Vulture
2 Western Wood Pewee
1 Olive Sided Flycatcher
2 Black Headed Grosbeak
2 Pacific Slope Flycatchers

Next we stopped at the mitigation ponds where we saw;
2 Northern Roughed Winged Swallow
1 Spotted Sandpiper
2 Hooded Merganser
and we watched 2 adult Sora's feeding among the cattails and we saw 2
Sora chicks as well scoot by.

Our last stop was exploring the back country logging roads by Maratta
Creek. A nice series of beavers ponds and two beaver dens in separate
ponds were seen while walking the road. Three bull elk were observed on
the hillside as well. Many birds were seen. We saw;
Willow Flycatcher
Warbling Vireo
Yellow Rumped Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Orange Crowned Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
1 Fox Sparrow
1 Spotted Sandpiper
1 Blue Grouse (heard)

Butterflies seen;
Mylitta Crescent
Silvery Blue
Ochre Ringlet
Mourning Cloak

Dragonflies seen;
Pacific Forktail
Western Red Damsel


Dave Hayden
Lakewood, WA
dtvhm at nwrain.com