Tweeters:



Enjoyed a terrific birding weekend over in Clallam County, perhaps the most productive ever for detecting hard-to-get east slope species. The weather was sun-drenched and beautiful--temps ranged from 41-66 F and were a hair cooler Sunday. Saturday, May 8th, was May Count, and I was covering Graysmarsh (private property but there is a public beach access). Sunday, May 9th, I decided to retrace some steps from a Marv Beece trip into the n.e. Olympics on year ago. Anne could not come so I was going it alone, and the species count for Graysmarsh was well off the last few years at 111. Still, quality reigned over quantity (as indicated below).



HIGHLIGHTS EASTERN CLALLAM COUNTY, 5/8-5/9



A. GRAYSMARSH SURVEY 5/8



(Black) Brant 575 (high for date)

Gr. White-fronted Goose 18

AM. GOLDEN-PLOVER 1 (heard only but clearly overhead, with BB Plover)

low numbers of shorebirds otherwise

Eurasian Collared-Dove 3 (high count, all along Wilcox Lane, spreading)

ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD 2 (only 2nd-3rd for Grays)

CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD 1 (female, Grays first)

WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER 1 (female, also along bluff trail!!!)

Pac-slope Flycatcher 27

Hammond's Flycatcher 5 (high count)

Olive-sided Flycatcher 3 (FOS)

W. Wood-Pewee 1 (FOS)

low numbers of swallows

House Wren 3

Swainson's Thrush 1 (FOS)

Hermit Thrush 1

MT. BLUEBIRD 1 (female in driftwood/ central dunes, latest ever)

Am. Pipit 56

Warbling Vireo 2 (FOS)

the 8 regular warblers (216 individuals), record-high 86 Orange-crowns, above-average for Yellow-rumped, Townsend's, Black-throated Gray

Black-headed Grosbeak 5 (FOS)

W. Tanager 4

7 sparrow sp, including lingering Fox Sparrow 1, Lincoln's 3, sparrow, sp 1 (either Fox/Lincoln's), White-throated 1

YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD 1 (ad male flying over beach! Only 2nd for Grays)



The sapsucker was an absolute shock--mid-day along the bluff trail. The bird called behind me several times, and it flew off when I approached, but I had easy looks at the main field marks anyway, the white rump, back barring and brown head being most attention-grabbing. This is just the second for CLALLAM that I'm aware of, the first a January bird up Hurricane Ridge that Ken Knittle et al found long ago. The bluff trail also produced Grays' first CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD seen twice earlier in the day and associated with Orange Honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa). These two great birds joined historic finds of an early June CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER (though giving the distinct two-note calls and in open, also gave more typical Pac-slope slurreds) and a mid-October BLACKPOLL WARBLER, both from years ago. Indeed, the habitat here is very east-slope like, dominated by dry, tall Doug-Fir forest, with dead tree-tops and a few snags around. The forest is notably open for western WA, allowing for considerable shrub growth and--you can't sit in the woods here for long--the presence of those nasty red-and-black Formica ants everywhere (and there are a surprising number of their 2-4' hills). These guys are more abundant here than anywhere in the wWA rain shadow that I've been, remembering how common they are in San Juan County also.



On May 9 I traversed the southeasternmost part of Clallam County for east-slope and mountain species. One of the first good birds along FS 2870 (which goes southward along the west side of the upper Dungeness R drainage) was a soaring N. GOSHAWK about 4 miles south of Dungeness Forks camground; they apparently nest up this valley. Very close by, a CASSIN'S FINCH sang beautifully below a prominent overlook. Though field guides often say this song is 'dryer' than Purple, to me it is longer and more complex as a rule, with one-two stacatto triple-note series in there. Still another east-side bird was a LEWIS' WOODPECKER that was a northbound flyover from the parking area for the Mt. Zion trail, along FS 28 late morning.



I had also hoped to encounter a "pure" HERMIT WARBLER here, given the Marv Breece report a year ago of multiple TOWNSEND'S x HERMIT hybrids (and a few pure HERMITS) along FS 28. I found none of either. However, I surveyed the entirety of FS 2870/upper Dungeness drainage starting from just south/upslope of the campground, nearly all the way to the south end, past the trailheads for Mt. Townsend and the Tubal Cain Mine, to the county's edge. The 44 conifer-loving, tree-top-tending yellow-faced Dendroicas comprised:



Townsend's Warbler 27

Townsend's X Hermit Warbler 4 (including one bird fitting "pure" Hermit but for dark green, dark-streaked back/scaps, and a very striking yellow-breasted backcross with the Hermit throat/face)

HERMIT WARBLER 1 (ad male very close to Mt. Townsend trailhead, in an atypically young conifer stand, apparently mated to Townsend's female)

Hermit/Townsend's Warbler, sp. 12 (heard onlys)



Finally, because Marv Breece et al had a LONG-EARED OWL 9 miles up the Deer Park Rd. a year ago, I decided to check that area. There have also been suspected encounters in adjacent spotthe n. Olympics that Scott Gremel and I have had earlier. I decided to go to the exact spot Marv described on Tweeters, 9 miles up from Hwy 101, where a gate blocks further ascent up the road presently. Just below the turnaround here (.2 mile below), there were no Long-eareds, but a SPOTTED OWL called several times at close range (!). Like the HERMIT WARBLER, the habitat seemed atypically young and undersized conifers.



OP birding doesn't get any better than this.



Scott Atkinson

Lake Stevens

mail to: scottratkinson at hotmail.com

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