This weekend, Gina Sheridan, my mom, my dad, and I spent the weekend on the
west side of the state, enjoying some coastal species and a Westport
Pelagic. The weather started out very hot and windy on the east side of the
state, but it cooled down markedly along the coast.

We departed from Spokane early Friday morning (7/6/07) and stopped by
Ritzville (Adams County) to search for the reported Northern Mockingbird.
We struck out, but saw a few other birds including a BULLOCK'S ORIOLE,
California Quail, and House Wren.

We decided to try for Black-throated Sparrow 1 mile south of Wanapum State
Park in eastern Kittitas County. A few LARK SPARROWS entertained us on the
rocky slope and a CASPIAN TERN flew by before the BLACK-THROATED SPARROW
came in and put on its own show.

Old Vantage Hwy was very windy but still produced a few interesting birds.
Two YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS were singing and responsive between MP 24 and 25.
We weren't able to locate the hoped-for Ash-throated Flycatcher at MP 24 but
a CHUKAR called from the slope and a pair of VESPER SPARROWS flitted around.
We had a SAGE THRASHER at MP 23, and a family of SAGE SPARROWS and
BREWER'S SPARROWS between MP 16 and 17.

As we entered Seattle, we figured we'd give the Magnolia neighborhood Hooded
Oriole a shot since it's likely still in the area. We gave it about an hour
and a half before moving on. We did talk to some locals, one of whom seemed
to have seen the oriole the day before based on his description of the bird.
At any rate, it escaped us this time. A few other birds were encountered
though during our search such as SPOTTED TOWHEE, NORTHERN FLICKER, ANNA'S
HUMMINGBIRD, and a BALD EAGLE. A quick walk around Discovery Park netted us
CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE and BEWICK'S WREN, as well as a heard-only
HUTTON'S VIREO as we drove in.

Late afternoon found us exploring the Capitol State Forest in western
Thurston County. We found our targeted HERMIT WARBLERS about 6 miles in on
C-4000, where they were singing all around us. Other species noted include
BAND-TAILED PIGEON, WILSON'S WARBLER, EVENING GROSBEAK, RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD,
SWAINSON'S THRUSH, DARK-EYED JUNCO, STELLER'S JAY, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, and
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW.

So ended Day 1, and we finished off the drive to Westport to get some sleep
before an early 5:30 departure on the Pelagic trip. Patrick Sullivan
already summarized the trip in an earlier post, but I'd like to mention a
few personal highlights. The LEACH'S STORM-PETRELS were the big target and
we really hit the jackpot with something like 30 birds observed. They flew
around close to the boat with FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS when we chummed at
the farthest point. Another peronal highlight was an adult TUFTED PUFFIN
encountered sitting on the water directly in front of us! Other birds
included 5 SOUTH POLAR SKUAS, and regulars like BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS,
SOOTY and PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER, CASSIN'S AUKLET, and NORTHERN FULMAR.
Near the jetty we had BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES, all 3 cormorants, SURF
SCOTERS, RHINO AUKLETS, COMMON MURRE, and HEERMANN'S GULLS, all fun species
for eastsiders like us. In spite of rough waters, we had a fantastic time.

We birded with Patrick and Ruth Sullivan for the afternoon, as already
posted by Patrick. We really had a very productive few hours and its always
fun brding with them. They showed us the NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD at Grayland
before we birded Midway Beach. Here we lucked out with a SNOWY PLOVER
easily observed from outside the closed area immediately after arriving.
PURPLE FINCHES put on a good show in the shrubbery along with ORANGE-CROWNED
WARBLER, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, MARSH WREN, BEWICK'S WREN, and SWAINSON'S
THRUSH.

The Tokeland Marina had a nice shorebird flock consisting of many WHIMBREL,
WILLET -2, SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER, and MARBLED GODWIT -1. As Patrick
mentioned, we were treated with 3 PURPLE MARTINS perched on a dead snag
after initially watching a pair flitting around and perching on a tire out
on the far dock. Originally we had surmised that one looked like a
returning subadult male, but after studying them more later, we concluded
that it was probably an adult female. So it looks like there is at least 1
male and 2 females at this location.

After a mostly dead Bottle Beach, we departed the Sullivans and started
working our way east. After checking into our hotel in Montesano, we spent
a little time at Lake Sylvia State Park. PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS,
SWAINSON'S THRUSH, and a DOWNY WOODPECKER finished off the day.

Sunday morning (7/8/2007), we decided to pursue Mountain Quail once again.
The gate near Satsop leading up Newman Creek was unfortunately locked, so we
decided to hit the Capitol State Forest once again with the chance of
running over one on the road. A BLACK BEAR scampered along in front of us
as we started up the hills on C-4000. We went farther up this time and
added HERMIT WARBLER to our Grays Harbor county list before moving back into
Thurston County, where we had a nice mix of birds, including WILLOW
FLYCATCHER and BROWN CREEPER. We spotted a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER before it
flew across a clearcut and heard a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER downslope.
Plenty of other birds went away as heard-only, including VARIED THRUSH,
WINTER WREN, WESTERN TANAGER, PURPLE FINCH, PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, and
HAIRY WOODPECKER. We really enjoyed the area.

In hopes of finding the Hooded Oriole in Magnolia, we put in another couple
of hours searching the prime area around Magnolia Blvd and Montfurt. Ah
well, it got away this time, but we really suspect it's still in the area.
We did run into a couple BUSHTITS along the way though.

We had some extra time so we explored the Snoqualmie area. At the Three
Forks Natural Area, we poked around and picked up some King County birds
such as WILLOW FLYCATCHER, WARBLING VIREO, WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, BLACK-HEADED
GROSBEAK, and the targeted RED-EYED VIREOS. This is really a gorgeous area
just like many of the locations we visited on this trip.

Crossing the pass and heading down into Kittitas County, we stopped again
for a little more birding along Bullfrog Rd. In the Suncadia Resort, quite
a few birds were around including WESTERN TANAGER, PINE SISKIN,
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, NASHVILLE WARBLER, CHIPPING SPARROW, BROWN-HEADED
COWBIRD (being fed by a Yellow-rumped Warbler), and MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE.
This apparently is in the process of becoming a huge development similar to
Sunriver in Oregon. We stopped again immediately west of Bullfrog Pond and
walked a short road towards the river. Here we found a couple VEERY, YELLOW
WARBLER, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, SPOTTED TOWHEE, and
WILLOW FLYCATCHER. The Veery were very cooperative and perched multiple
times in the open using playback.

We pulled around and searched the Elk Heights Burn for Black-backed
Woodpeckers, however we only found a couple conspicuous HAIRY WOODPECKERS
and a group of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS. We did however find what was likely the
empty Black-backed Woodpecker nest, which could explain why we didn't find
the birds. Maybe they've moved away from that area for the time being?

Once again, we birded along the Old Vantage Hwy, hoping to pick up the
Ash-throated Flycatchers. For whatever reason, we couldn't find them once
again. Perhaps they're taking shelter out of the wind, or just plain moved
off. A MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD and some HORNED LARKS were cool though.

I picked up 6 state lifers as well as 2 ABA lifers (Leach's Storm-Petrel &
Tufted Puffin), my dad got 5 state lifers (1 ABA lifer - Leach's
Storm-Petrel), and Gina added 1 state lifer. We enjoyed building a little
bit on some of the coastal counties as well as just raising our overal
western Washington lists. Fantastic birding along with great company made
for a very enjoyable weekend.

Michael Woodruff
Spokane, WA

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