hi Tweeters -
I headed out early Saturday morning to try for more Skamania Co birds
-- and it wasn't disappointing!

Saturday I started off super early, heading straight to Skamania. I
stopped at St. Cloud Ranch for a bathroom break at a bit before 8:00,
only to have the highlight of the trip: PINE GROSBEAK! One was
singing away by the bathroom, confusing me with its song and size
combo until I deigned to look through my binocs.... I was expecting
to find a hidden Purple Finch -- interesting to compare their songs.


Over to Drano Lake, where Michael Hobbs was present & soon turned up
the TUFTED DUCK

From there, we circled around to Underwood, where I've never before
birded and where Michael had already 'scouted' earlier in the day. We
turned up WILD TURKEY, ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD & CALI QUAIL We also had
our first of the year TURKEY VULTURE fly overhead. Also present were
huge numbers of very loud Western Scrub-Jays & Steller's Jays,
seeming willing to live together.

We tried for a bunch of other things as we headed west,.
North of Stevenson, at the marsh at, approximately Rock Creek x Red
Bluff, a Virginia Rail responded but didn't show itself. Also had a
nice pair of Hooded Mergansers fly in.

In North Bonneville, we spent a while hiking around
Hamilton/Strawberry Island -- none of the 'target birds' showed up,
but we did have VIOLET-GREEN & TREE SWALLOWS, and our first of the
year RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD - a loud male.

At the east end of Skamania Landing, a large flock of white-cheeked
geese remain, including at least a few minima CACKLING GEESE -- the
others seemed mostly to be of the intermediat range
Taverners/Parvipes -

Back at St. Cloud Ranch again, our highlight was find a flock of
BUSHTITS [5 or so, coastal race].

A stop at Marble Rd. produced WB NUTHATCH heard at a distance &
briefly glanced in flight.

All in all, a good day --

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA