Fourteen of us birded the Columbia Gorge on a cold and blustery
Saturday, May 3rd. The temperatures never climbed above the mid-50's and
the winds were in excess of twenty five miles per hour. We only
encountered a few neotropical migrants and they were mostly all seen in
the wind-sheltered canyon at the Catherine Creek Wildflower Preserve east
of Bingen. Here we found two Western Kingbirds, a Warbling Vireo, one
Townsend's Warbler, and a few Yellow-rumped Warblers. There was a Prairie
Falcon and a Black-chinned Hummingbird that we located here. The early
wildflowers were mostly past their prime but with Bicolored Cluster Lily,
Bitter Root and Barrett's Penstemon putting on a nice display.
On the way up Old Highway 8 we found Western Bluebirds and one
car load of birders had a fly over of Lewis' Woodpeckers. We saw Chipping
Sparrows at the Balch/Lyle Cemetery heard Lesser Goldfinches calling but
did not see them there. Our lunch break was along Balch Pond where we had
good views of several Lesser Goldfinches along with the resident Western
Pond Turtles. Although this is a good spot for Ash-throated Flycatchers
none were heard giving their distinctive "prrrt" call. Back down on Old
Highway 8 we spent about forty five minutes standing in front of our
spotting scopes staring at the Acorn Woodpecker's granary tree in a vain
attempt to add this bird to the day's list.
We drove up the Klickitat River to the town of Klickitat where
the feeders in front of the homes on the 600 block of Main Street once
again produced all four species of hummingbirds normally found in
Washington. Another Lewis' Woodpecker flew over the group while we were
standing in front of a gas station taking a break These lovely birds have
been hard to find in the Gorge this spring.
At the Tidyman Road Ponds in Dallesport we found Cinnamon Teal
and our only shorebirds other than Killdeer, Least Sandpiper and Wilson's
Snipe. Our next stop was Spearfish Park which produced only a pair of
Bufflehead as additions to the list.
Maryhill Museum was closing it's gate when we arrived so we
parked outside and walked the grounds in the howling wind. The only bird
of note we could find was a Hammond's Flycatcher staying low in the now
manicured shrubbery. The total count of species for the outing was
seventy seven and the best birds were two which we did not see on
Saturday. Kathy and John Ehrenberg had spent the previous evening with
some friends in Underwood which is in Skamania County. There they saw two
Blue Jays coming to a feeder along with the normal Scrub Jays and
Steller's Jays. Part of the group spent some time there on our way back
down the Gorge but did not see the birds. My wife and I did go back up
the next afternoon and failed again to see the jays but I did see my
first Prairie Falcon for Skamania County during the search.

Wilson Cady
N45 35.618' W122 13.738'
Washougal, WA
gorgebirds at juno.com