I can recall 'dead of winter' sightings of male Mtn Bluebirds along the N. F. Toutle River in Cowlitz County in the recovery years following the eruption of Mt St Helens. We made a number of trips through the area while working on the design for the highway reconstruction. One sighting was in the area that later became a WDFW game range/elk range on the valley floor above the early "low" sedimentation dam and Elk Rock (near Hoffstadt Ck confluence). Another was between the confluence of the Green River and the later, "high" sedimentation dam (now where the WDFW fish trap, a mitigation site and the state highway cross the N F Toutle River). These sightings were in the time period between 1986-1992. I would think workers/visitors who have spent or do spend considerable time in the area could provide better data and apprise of current winter sighting status for the Mountain Bluebird. Perhaps the WDFW?
---John Allinger--- jonymike at pacifier daught com