Dan Nelson and I spent the day birding from the Steigerwald Lake NWR, in Clark County, up the Columbia Gorge to Stevenson, in Skamania County. We started out by walking the Steigerwald Lake NWR where the seasonally closed section of the trail opened today. YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS were everywhere including on the gravel trail. There were six AMERICAN BITTERNS in Redtail Lake including a male showing it's breeding plumage epaulets. The best bird we saw here was my first of the season WESTERN KINGBIRD perched on the fence along the Dike Trail, HOUSE WRENS were vocal in the forested areas.Our next stop was at Skamania Landing where there were three WESTERN KINGBIRDS along the lake shore and a fourth at the Columbia River boat ramp where there was also two WESTERN GREBES and a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, A CASSIN'S VIREO was calling at the Beacon Rock State Park parking lot on Highway 14, while a kettle of seven TURKEY VULTURES circled overhead. Two WESTERN GULLS were at the Bonneville Dam juvenile fish passage outlet on Hamilton Island. In Stevenson we failed to find anything much at Rock Creek Cove but at the Red Bluff Road pond we heard one VIRGINIA RAIL but no Marsh Wrens. Wilson Cady
Skamania County, WA