My wife and I did a little birding in Skamania County on Friday,
July 21. Our main goal was a search for migrant shorebirds, although we
checked six different sites we were only able to find one KILLDEER, two
SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, and a LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER. The last bird was a
county first for me. The only exposed mud we found was at the mouth of
Rock Creek in Stevenson, where one of each species seen were found. This
mud is from the landslide on Rock Creek that has taken out a couple of
homes and is fresh and without much food in it for the probing birds.
In the oak forest North of Highway 14 at the Spring Creek
Hatchery we had calling ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, this is a reliable spot
for them.
We continued up into Klickitat County to check for Acorn
Woodpeckers at the Balch Rd. site near Lyle and failed to find them or a
single Lewis' Woodpecker. There were about a dozen LESSER GOLDFINCHES
just below Balch Lake.

Wilson Cady
Washougal, WA