Today Russ Koppendrayer joined Les Carlson and I for our twelfth monthly Skamania County Big Day this year. We started at my place near the Clark/Skamania County line where our best bird was the first ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD in December that we have had at our place in over forty years of observations. On Marble Road we had a NORTHERN HARRIER and a MERLIN, neither species being easy to find here. On our way east we were stopped on Cape Horn by the Department of Transportation unplugging a culvert when a PEREGRINE FALCON flew past at eye level. A stop at the St. Cloud Recreation Area produced a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, a Code 5 bird for Skamania County. The Franz Lake overlook produced very few birds and left us without any swans for the day. Skamania Landing made up for the lack of waterfowl with a REDHEAD on the main lake, a GREAT EGRET and CACKLING GEESE at Doetsch Pond, a COMMON LOON in the Columbia River off of the boat ramp where we also had a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. A quick stop at Beacon Rock State Park added CANYON WREN to the list. Below Bonneville Dam there was another RED-SHOULDERED HAWK on Hamilton Island, a WILSON'S SNIPE at the ponds near the juvenile bypass fish facility and three BONAPARTE'S GULLS and a WESTERN GULL in the river just below the dam. In Stevenson we found an EARED GREBE and five EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES near the sternwheeler dock. At the Spring Creek Fish Hatchery we encountered a large mixed flock with three species of chickadees including several MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES, both kinglets, BROWN CREEPERS, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. Underwood Hill provided us with WILD TURKEYS and CALIFORNIA QUAIL for a new county Big Day record of 81 species. This completed Les and my quest to set a new Skamania County Big Day record for every month in 2012.

Wilson Cady
Columbia River Gorge