Mark and I headed out to explore the north side of Mount St. Helens
yesterday, leaving around 11am. We did several stops along the way, ending
at Johnston Ridge. It was a beautiful day with incredible views of the
mountain. I think this ended up being a scouting trip for potential future
hikng in the area. We got a few short loops in, but the higher stuff up at
Johnston was still not open. I managed to have a few good bird highlights
during the day.

The first, RED CROSSBILL, was a life bird. We had amazing close up views of
both male and female, and enjoyed listening to the male singing as well.
This was on the loop trail at the first visitors center. At this stop there
were also BLACK-HEADED GROSSBEAKS, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, YELLOW WARBLER,
RED-WING BLACKBIRDS, WILLOW FLYCATCHER, and MARSH WREN all being very
vocal. What was surprising is that we saw absolutely no waterfowl at this
lake. Bull Frogs were also very vocal.

The next longer stop was up at Johnston Ridge where I really didn't see many
birds, at least not close enough to ID. However there were plenty of RAVENS
and BARN SWALLOWS. The latter was a bit of a surprise to me. Mark and I
spend a lot of time up in the mountains, and I don't ever recall Barn
Swallows in this kind of territory before. Maybe it is a local anomoly or
maybe I just never noticed before. Below Johnston Ridge at Coldwater Lake
they seemed more "normal". We did site some elk from Johnston Ridge. They
were far below us, only visable with the binoculars. They had found a
particularly green spot in the area of destruction from the huge mud flows.


Next stop was Coldwater Lake where we walked a loop along the lake and then
through some of the hummock landscape there. This area had a lot of
birdlife including: 1 lone female COMMON GOLDENEYE, CANADA GEESE, BARN
SWALLOW, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD (in large numbers),VAUX SWIFT, ORANGE-CROWNED
WARBLER, WISLON'S WARBLER, and WARBLING VIREO. The Vireo was a single bird
singing and hopping from branch to branch. This is the longest looking and
listening I have ever gotten of this bird, and was a real treat. Another
special moment was on our way back towards I-5 when a PILEATED WOODPECKER
flew out from a group of trees and flew for several hundred feet at eye
level to another set of trees. I had never seen these large woodpeckers in
that long of a flight, only observing them in short flights in the woods and
wetlands. It was a joy to watch.

It was really amazing to see and hear the difference between where nature
was left to do it's own thing and where people intervened by planting.
There was by far a greater diversity of both plant and bird life in the less
verdant but seemingly healthier areas where nature was left to it's
own. Niether of us had been up to Johnston Ridge before and it was a real
eye opener to what had really happened when we were kids. We can both
remember where we were. Mark lived north in the Bellevue area. I was
living in Central Oregon at the time, much further away, but it an area that
was far more effected because of the winds. There is still much that needs
to regrow after 28 years, some areas still seem completely lifeless, yet it
was also amazing to see how much really had happened, especially seeing the
size of the new dome that is forming! A great trip and a place I am sure we
will return to do more hiking and exploring.

Happy Birding,

Maurie Kirschner
Olympia WA
mnmkirschner at gmail.com