Hello Tweets,

Today we ventured up to the Takhlakh Lake area of northeastern Skamania Co.,where we relocated the nesting pair of Black-backed Woodpeckers(previously reported by Marcus Roening and Ken Knittle onto Tweeters)in a burned area accessed along FR 2329 near Takh Takh Meadows. We walked the upper portion of Meadow Lake Trail #136,as it ascends upward from the northern portion of Takh Takh Meadows ,then gains elevation as you walk through a portion of lava remnants then eventually the trail levels off and you arrive to the small burned area. This was actually our second trip to this area in the past week with our last visit made on the 3rd of July primarily for recent dragonfly specialties found at nearby Horseshoe Lake. We figured after our initial visit we would eventually return in prior days when crowds of people were much lower,so we took advantage of Marcus and Ken's report by making our return trip sooner. The weather today was very cloudy and windy at times with some very small sunbreaks and cooler temperatures compared to our visit on the 3rd,which was warm and sunny. Our trip was worthwhile and we managed to locate both the male and female Black-backed Woodpecker and at least one juvenile Black-backed Woodpecker at a nesthole within the burn. The young Black-backed Woodpecker was easily heard calling hungrily for food from the adults,but more or less heard the loudest when it looked out of the hole on occasion,then quickly moving back in. The adult birds were also quite vocal,but gave their usual and distinctive sharp "pik",as well as a small series of drumming heard once and could all be heard from some distance. We kept our distance from the nestsite and the birds to not induce any agitation to them and both adults came readily and often to the nesthole and we never saw more than one young bird from the entrance of the nesthole,but are sure there were. It was really neat to see this species and obtain photos,as it was only our second personal sighting of a fairly cooperative pair of Black-backed Woodpeckers we have seen at a nestsite in WA. The burned area is actually very limited along the rocky,vegetated slope of a lava slide,so we figure it was well contained and not spread to more live trees in the immediate area. We later found out while watching the pair of Black-backed Woodpeckers that you could see the nesthole from the actual FR 2329,as we saw it earlier below us from above,but the hole is more obscured by vegetation and other burnt trees. It is possible to see the nesthole and the adults when they come and go from it along the road,which is exactly at .8 miles from the entrance road to Takhlakh Lake along FR 2329. We were able to set up our spotting scope along the road after finding the actual nesthole within the burned area,but during this time weren't able to see any activity eventhough we clearly heard the calls of the juvenile bird(s). This location is an alternative to those people that may not want to make the short hike up above along the lava ridge trail to see the birds closer.

Away from the Black-backed Woodpecker the general area offered very limited birding,but that is usually the case above 4500 elevation. On both day we had a small variety of mountain birds,of which our best species were encountered today.Away from birding,etc. the close views of Mt.Adams can be spectacular when the skies are clear,especially from Takhlakh Lake! This area offers more exploration through the early to mid fall season from the 5 local lakes in the area,as well as off-road trails and we definitely plan on more upcoming visits! Today we located "pure" Hermit Warblers at 2 separate locations including up to 3 birds along FR 2329 at TakhTakh Meadows and 2 birds at the Taklakh Lake boat launch,which lies immediately next to the Takhlakh Lake Campground. We located at least one "hybrid" Hermit/Townsend's Warbler at the Killen Creek Trailhead accessed along FR 2329 south of Horseshoe Lake,which was mixed in a flock of other passerines including a single Townsend's Warbler and 4 Mountain Chickadees. We figured we were in the general transition zone of Hermit and Townsend's Warblers since it is very apparent they and hybrids occur. Other noteworthy species encountered in the general Takhlakh/Horseshoe Lake area included the following:

1 female Barrow's Goldeneye on Takhlakh Lake on the 6th
1 Osprey over Takhlakh Lake on the 3rd
1 Red-tailed Hawk over Takh Takh Meadows on the 6th
1 adult Spotted Sandpiper at Horseshoe Lake on both days
1 Rufous Hummingbird at Takh Takh Meadows on the 6th
4 Tree Swallows at Horseshoe Lake on both days
1 Olive-sided Flycatcher along FR 2329 at Takh Takh Meadows on the 3rd
7 Grays Jays at Horseshoe Lake both days with 5 birds at Takhlakh Lake on the 3rd
1 Clark's Nutcracker at Horseshoe Lake on the 3rd with 2 above Takh Takh Meadows on the 6th and 2 along FR 2329 near Killen Creek on the 6th
2 Orange-crowned Warblers at Takhlakh Lake on both days
4 Lincoln's Sparrows at Takhlakh Lake on the 3rd with 7 birds there on the 6th and 2 birds at nearby Takh Takh Meadows on the 6th. 3 birds at Horseshoe Lake on the 3rd.


As mentioned earlier we made specific efforts for dragonflies at Horsehoe Lake after getting a "tip" from Joe Higbee of a Crimson-ringed Whiteface that he located at that location earlier on the 29th of June. Our visit proved successful on the 3rd and conditions couldn't have been better for dragonflies with no wind and warm temperatures. We located 3 separate species of whiteface,of which to novice people look very similar in the field,but upon closer examination in the hand reveal distinctive field marks,but within at least 2 of these species having very subtle differences. These 2 species include the Crimson-ringed and Red-waisted Whiteface,of which the primary difference is with the cells of the nearly transparent wings. On the Crimson-ringed a close examination reveals an area of double-rowed cells within the upper wings,whereas in the Red-waisted Whiteface it is a single row within the same area of the upper wing. It is a field mark that is best viewed in a magnified glass or unless you have very sharp eyes! The 3rd species of whiteface we encountered at Horseshoe Lake was a single Hudsonian Whiteface,which looks more different than the other 2 mentioned species by being smaller and having more distinctive red areas within the abdomen.Anyhow, we enjoyed seeing all three species of whiteface and all of them prefer mountainous lakes.


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit at worldnet.att.net