Subject: [Tweeters] Klickitat 11/5-6
Date: Nov 7 11:11:16 2004
From: Mark Miller - snowyowl98683 at msn.com
Hi Everyone--
Marcia Marvin and I went on a geology and wine tour of Klickitat County and
the Yakima Valley this past Friday and Saturday 11/5-6, and saw some nice
birds, too. Unseasonably warm weather didn't hurt any. From Portland, we
went east to Eagle Creek, and ticked YELLOW-BILLED LOON, AMERICAN DIPPER,
and 9 BARROW'S GOLDENEYES. (Sorry, these were all in Oregon, but the loon
does wander into Washington.) We crossed into Skamania County at the Bridge
of the Gods, then drove east to Lyle. We checked out the granary tree near
Balch Road, saw one ACORN WOODPECKER, but we noticed lots of LEWIS'S
WOODPECKERS around, too. As we drove east toward Goldendale, we saw more
Lewis's; in fact, wherever there were stands of Garry Oak, we found them,
swooping out after insects. We turned off US 97 at Goldendale, then
continued east on Bickleton Highway. Toward Bickleton, we started seeing
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS; we had three in all. About 3 miles east of Bickleton on
Glade Road, we stopped for a flock of 20 MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS. We drove east
to Mabton, spent Friday night in Richland, and started back west toward
Bickleton in the morning. Joining the bluebird flock east of Bickleton were
50 HOUSE FINCHES and an adult NORTHERN SHRIKE, the shrike trying to grab one
of the finches and failing. As we snaked down Harrison Ridge toward Rock
Creek, we came upon a buck Mule Deer in repose on the shoulder line, quite
alert, but not sensing the need to move until we were almost on it. Lunch
was at Rock Creek, which was pretty quiet, but a VARIED THRUSH in the road
was nice. A second adult NORTHERN SHRIKE was along Bickleton Highway west of
Rock Creek. From Goldendale, we continued west into the Klicktat River
Gorge, a miniature Columbia Gorge geologically, but without the people. We
stopped at the top of the gorge, where at least 6 LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS were
at or below eye level flycatching, hammering on acorns, squealing at each
other (this was the most noise I had ever heard out of them), and chasing
each other around. An AMERICAN DIPPER was at milepost 5, west of Klickitat.
By now it was getting dark, so we drove straight back to Portland. We made a
coffee stop at Bingen, where we discovered that Loafer's Bakery, long a
birding landmark, has gone out of business. The antique store next door
bought the space, and is operating a coffee shop and deli. The lady running
the coffee shop was interested to know that we were birders, and was
interested in finding ways to become part of the Bingen community. We
suggested reviving the birders' log book. If Klickitat/Skamania birders
would like to get that going again, please stop in, have some coffee and a
pastry, and add your two cents of encouragement.
Mark Miller
Pleasanton, CA (formerly Vancouver, WA)
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