Maurie and Tweeters,

I am so glad Maurie's trip went well. A Black Hills Audubon trip on the same day was not quite so wonderful! We too, went upriver for a stretch, (from a great access point on 123rd off Littlerock Rd to about 110th) and had fantastic late spring birds...many, many Yellow Warblers, Cedar Waxwings, Green Herons, Soras, Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Yellowthroats, Marsh Wrens, a few Olive-sided Flycatchers, Band-tailed Pigeons, and I think I heard a first of the season Willow Flycatcher, among other birds...it was glorious. But the trip went downhill from there...or perhaps downstream is the best description. First I would like to say, in most adament terms, that NO ONE should try to go downriver from 123rd Avenue off Littlerock Road! It was most amazing, and very dangerous at this time of year. I also have heard that in the summer there is no water...so my conclusion is that it is most erratic...as we had WAY more water than we anticipated. We were quite lucky not to lose anyone...and because of the many channels and logjams, birding was beside the point, as we were more worried about survival. On the other hand, I did notice a number of Wood Duck boxes, which I assume Kelly McAllister put there, presumably in somewhat lower water. And when I finally reached the WDFW take-out (or put-in, as the case may be) 2 miles south of Littlerock, there was an Osprey circling overhead. Now I understand that the trip from the WDFW access point 2 miles south of Littlerock (where I got out of the river with a huge sigh of relief) downriver is a "walk in the park", or an easy paddle down and back. I misunderstood what I heard about that section from 123rd to the WDFW spot, and the recent weather (read rain) made it incredibly dangerous. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions about this portion of the Black River!

And the list of lost items is pretty amazing: 1 kayak, 1 canoe paddle, 1 really expensive jacket, 2 thermos bottles, 2 pairs of prescription eyeglasses, one kayak glove, 1 wallet (including money, driver's license, and credit cars), 2 cell phones (which we didn't really lose...but they do not deal well with water....and so are now rendered useless), and more than one lunch. Also more than one bird book bit the dust...or was waterlogged, as the case may be. I am incredibly grateful that everyone made it to some spot off the river in one piece.., and I may swear off leading fields forever! Also Swarovski binoculars, as reputed, are quite waterproof. Please do not attempt to do this section of the Black River (from 123rd down river to the WDFW site)... although, as I said, the river is reputed the be a slow, meandering river downstream from the WDFW site.

Kristin Stewart
Olympia WA
kristinstewart at comcast.net

From: Maurie Kirschner
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2005 3:31 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Black River Thurston County - 05/21/05


Hi Tweeters,

Yesterday my husband and I paddled the uppermost section of the Black River in Thurston County. Talk about a peaceful paddle(well mostly, see below)! This riparian natural area provided lots of great birds. We started off in overcast but pleasant weather finishing up in very windy and very rainy weather. We managed to get 3.3 miles up river towards the lake from the natural resources launch site, before my 17 1/2 foot kayak could not make a turn no matter how hard I tried. There were lots of fresh beaver logging and the main channel became less obvious. On the return trip I had my first ever accidental overturn in my kayak (and I have been kayaking for quite a while!). It happened in a five foot wide section of the river after a tight turn that I got a little too close to the brush, and while attemptig to push off the brush, it gave and I had no chance for recovery...may I say that the Black River i! s VERY VERY VERY cold!!! Despite a wet suit! One thing that was discovered from this rediculous little adventure of mine, was that I bought the right binoculars! I had forgot about the binoculars around my neck, while I attempted to pump out water from my boat (while balancing on a tiny little log sticking out of the muck of the river bottom, at this point the water was over my head and the stick made it chest deep) when my husband finally thought of the binoculars and I handed them over to him, it had been at least five minutes with them being fully submerged. The binoculars came out of the situation perfectly fine. So I can highly reccomend the water proofness of Nikon Monarchs. But I would not reccomend a cold rainy day swim in the black river...

Now as to the birds seen and/or heard:

Canada Goose
California Quail
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Mourning Dove
Hummingbird sp.
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Olive-sided Flycatcher (I had great looks at this large flycatcher, at first I thought it was another of the many Cedar Waxwings, but then it swooped out for a bug and landed again, by this time I had my binoculars on it and got to watch as it swallowed a big bug! What a great bird!)
Warbling Vireo
Steller's Jay
American Crow
Common Raven (I was surprised when I heard this bird call...never did see it, but the call was most definately Raven)
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Marsh Wren
American Robin
Swainson's Thrush (singing, ahhhhhh so nice!)
Cedar Waxwing (by far the MOST abundant bird for the day...they were everywhere and in large numbers everytime.)
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler (I was hearing these most of the paddle until the rain started in, then it got fairly quiet, but while I was preforming my little kayaking drama, they started to sing again, right from the bushes next to us. Anyone else notice how much this birds song sounds like laughter??? ; ) )
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird

Happy Birding,

Maurie Kirschner
Olympia WA
outdoorchickerooatyahoodotcom




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