Wednesday morning, I headed out to the Chehalis Wildlife area here in Elma.
I walked a different portion of the area that day. I drove out to the gate
on the gravel/grass road that parallels Hwy 12 off of Schouweiler Rd. This
road takes you out a grassy road that heads west to the green sign that you
can see from the highway between Keys and Schouweiler roads. There is one
pond (until the others form) in this portion of the area, but the majority
of the area is grassy fields. I encountered a good assortment of sparrows
including Golden-crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow, and one Lincoln's Sparrow.
The highlight of the day was hearing and then seeing five Western
Meadowlarks. As I walked out past the pond, I could hear the familiar song
of the meadowlark but I couldn't spot them. I walked out into the field
where I thought they were and ended up flushing them.

This morning, I drove out into the hills north of Elma once again. My main
goal today was to find and confirm an ID on the quail that I had seen
before. Luck was with me today, I was headed down a logging road, about to
give up for the day, when I saw three quail flush out of the ditch ahead of
me. The three birds went into the dense brush on the side of the road. I
decided to play a waiting game so I got out of my car and waited for them to
hopefully reappear. After about 15 minutes, I began to hear the brush ahead
of me rustle and all three came out into a low spot in the ditch. One of
them hopped out on the road just long enough for me to get a great view. A
thin, long head plume confirmed that they were indeed Mountain Quail. The
quail didn't stay in view long because another vehicle came by scaring them
back into the brush. The location in the Delorme atlas is on page 61 at
D-5. If anyone would like directions to the area, please contact me
privately.

Good birding,

Tim O'Brien
Elma, WA
kertim7179 at centurytel.net