Hello Tweets,

My mother and I ventured south to the Columbia Gorge anticipating on locating any new spring migrant songbirds,but encountered a very slow day for songbirds and birding in general. We birded as far east as Maryhill State Park in Klickitat Co south of Hwy.14 and visited several key location that normally host good numbers of migrants,as well as regular songbird breeders in both Skamania and Klickitat Cos. We did manage to locate a few highlights for the day,despite all the driving we made,but a few target species were not seen such as Acorn and Lewis' Woodpeckers at traditional locations near Lyle most likely due to the bad acorn crop that past few years. Our main attempt of the trip along with several migrants that would or could be possible was 3 Nashville Warblers that were observed and heard singing along S.R.142 above the Klickitat River less than a mile north of Lyle. In past years we have had Nashville Warblers by the 16th of April at least two years in a row with both years being at the Maryhill Museum,but the only warbler present during our visit this afternoon was relatively good numbers of Yellow-rumped"Audubon's"Warblers,which was also the most abundant warbler species noted at several location, fairly typical for the Columbia Gorge at times. We also observed a single adult male Anna's Hummingbird at this same location,which has been a very dependable location for 7+ years for this local specialty,as we usually encounter the bird perched atop the same tree each visit. Our other highlight of the day was a breeding plumaged Harris' Sparrow at the Maryhill Museum amongst a flock of 25+ White-crowned Sparrows and up to 8 Golden-crowned Sparrows. The bird was seen only briefly at the west end of the museum property near the restrooms.We visited key locations such as Skamania south of Hwy.14, Home Valley Park, Maryhill Museum and Maryhill S.P.,but all these location except the latter two locations were very quiet,as far as songbirds. The two Skamania Co. locations were the most quiet with NO singing warblers at all,as we encountered very exceptional birding conditions with NO wind throughout the entire day until we stopped and checked the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR on our way home. As far as both the River S Unit of the Ridgefield NWR and a morning stop made along Hwy.14 at the Steigerwald Lake NWR with both locations hosting very high water levels with only shorebird activity noted at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR with 6 species noted. Overall the day could have been much better due to past spring trips we have made along this route,but perhaps songbird migration is truly late this year with seemingly cooler temperatures,if that obtains to the lack of migrating passerines. We did encounter very good numbers of Osprey along Hwy.14,especially in Skamania Co. and Turkey Vultures along this route in both counties. A list of our additional highlights for the day included the following at selected locations:

Great Egret
1 along I-5 north of Woodland,Cowlitz Co.

Am.Bittern
1 at the Steigerwald Lake NWR along Hwy.14,Clark Co.(CK)

Wood Duck
4 at the Steigerwald Lake NWR along Hwy.14,CK
1 at Skamania,Skamania Co.(SM)
1 pair at Maryhill S.P.,Klickitat Co.(KL)
6 at the River S Unit of the Ridgefield NWR

Cinnamon Teal
12+ at the Steigerwald NWR,CK
1 pair at Skamania,SK
4 at Dallesport,KL
34 at the River S Unit of he Ridgefield NWR,CK

Canvasback
1 pair at the Bingen Pond,KL

Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 along Hwy.14 east of Horsethief Lake S.P.,KL

Swainson's Hawk
1 along Hwy.14 east of Maryhill Museum,KL

Virginia Rail
1 at Home Valley Park,SM

Greater Yellowlegs
1 at the River S Unit of the Ridgefield NWR,CK

Western Sandpiper
6 at Dallesport,KL
2 at the River S Unit of the Ridgefield NWR,CK

Dunlin
5 at the River S Unit of the Ridgefield NWR,CK

Long-billed Dowitcher
92 at the River S Unit of the Ridgefield NWR,CK

Caspian Tern
1 at the mouth of the Klickitat River at Lyle,KL

Vaux's Swift
1 along Hwy.14 west of Lyle,KL

Say's Phoebe
1 just south of the Hwy.14/97 intersection

Western Kingbird
13 observed in Klickitat Co. with 1 observed as far west as Murdock and 5 present at the Maryhill Museum.

Purple Martin
4(2 pair)at Skamania Landing,SK

Western Scrub Jay
1 noted as far east at Maryhill S.P.,KL

White-breasted Nuthatch
2 near Balch Lake northwest of Lyle,KL

Brown Creeper
1 at Home Valley Park

Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 at Maryhill Museum

Western Bluebird
2 pair at the Balch-Lyle Cemetary,KL
1 along S.R.141 north of Lyle,KL

Hermit Thrush
1 at the Maryhill Museum,KL

Cassin's Vireo(heard only)
1 near Balch Lake,KL

Common Yellowthroat
1 at the Bingen Pond,KL

"Sooty"Fox Sparrow
1 at the Maryhill S.P.

Lincoln's Sparrow
2 at the Balch-Lyle Cemetery,KL
1 at Maryhill Museum

Purple Finch(locally uncommon)
6 at the Balch-Lyle Cemetery,KL

Lesser Goldfinch
3 at Balch Lake,KL
5 at the Balch-Lyle Cemetery,KL
5 at Maryhill Museum,KL
8 at Maryhill S.P.,KL

Evening Grosbeak
45+ at Lyle,KL


In addition to birding we located our first dragonflies of the season in Klickitat Co.,mainly at Maryhill S.P. including the following species:

California Darner(Aeshna californica)
Pacific Forktail(Ischnura perparva)
Boreal Bluet(Enallagma boreale)



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
godwit at worldnet.att.net