Tweeters, I just finished my first Breeding Bird Survey in Montesano and had
a great time counting as many birds as I could handle. The route is simply
the Wynoochee RD north towards the Aberdeen Watershed in Grays Harbor
County. It starts in lowland mixed forest, riparian strips and
agricultural/grassland, then gets some elevation gain and goes through a
massive amount of clear-cut and some pockets of evergreen (Hemlock, Doug
Fir). I started in the lowlands at 4:50 AM and ended the 25 miles at about
9:30 AM. I could have gone faster but I had to write down all the stop
locations since none were provided, I think the route hadn't been run in a
few years.

Highlights were:
1 Great-Blue Heron (not seen on the route before)
2 GREEN HERON (not seen on the route before; two locations, first seemed
good for a breeding area - along Wynoochee River)
3 BLUE GROUSE (heard at three locations)
2 Hairy Woodpecker
2 Pileated Woodpecker
2 R/B Sapsucker (a hit-or-miss bird that has not been seen on the route
before)
1 O/S FLYCATCHER
43 Willow Flycatcher
19 Hammond's Flycatcher
44 Warbling Vireo
6 GRAY JAY (2 locations; 1 family group with some birds in dark juvenile
plumage and yellow gapes)
1 NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW (not seen on the route before)
2 Brown Creeper (surprisingly not seen on the count before)
142 SWAINSON'S THRUSH (amazing how many of these birds are in one 25 mile
stretch of road)
82 American Robin (many more were probably present, I was counting more seen
birds than heard birds, they seem to be busy feeding chicks rather than
singing)
22 Black-throated Gray Warbler (saw 2 adults feeding a fledged youngster)
9 Townsend's Warbler (strangely enough, not seen on the count before;
couldn't see any of these birds to determine if they were hybrids or not,
the area seems to be listed in certain guides as a hybrid zone so it would
be interesting to go back and find out)
40 Western Tanager
47 Song Sparrow (another bird that seemed busy feeding young, not much
singing from them)
11 Red Crossbill

The only real frustrating part of running the route was that I had four
stops where I heard woodpeckers tapping looking for food. They would not
vocalize or show themselves and I had to move on knowing that I was
undercounting woodpecker species. I suppose it all evens out in the long
run though.

Mammal highlights were:
1 Snowshoe Hare that took away my necessary attention to the surrounding
birds
1 Elk that had a great rack starting, this was at mile 24
and 1 growling hidden dog that forced me to count from inside my car at a
stop (needless to say that stop produced very little).

I had a lot of fun running this route and I hope to have a good time at my
other one down in Raymond (though I dread thinking about how early I'll have
to get up for that one). If you think you have a good handle on your local
bird vocalizations then I urge you to check out the site at
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/ and get a route or two of your own for next
year. It's a good feeling knowing that not all birding is 'frivolous, and
that these skills can be put to use for a good cause! Or if you're just a
lister then I should also add that I did add a few species to my Grays
Harbor list...so there can be benefits for you too! And everyone's happy.

Jason Paulios
Jpaulios at earthlink.net
Olympia, WA