To start the year off right, Barry Woodruff, Les Carlson and I did a Skamania County January Big Day, We started early with hopes that following the same general route that Les, Tim Brennan, Nina Bohn, Jon Leland and I used for a December Big Day would provide the same good birds. We were wrong on that, mostly due to winds in the 30mph range keeping many birds low in the brush or invisible among the white caps on the Columbia River. At the west end of the county we found a WILSON'S SNIPE in the little wetland on Fitzgerald Rd. I thought that a stop at Franz Lake would provide a wide variety of waterfowl but we only picked up PIED-BILLED GREBE and HOODED MERGANSER there and no swans at all. The best birds at Skamania Landing were a GREAT EGRET and a very cooperative Slender-billed WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, low in a bush next to the road. Greenleaf Slough provided us with a male EURASIAN WIGEON. By the time we got to the Spring Creek Fish Hatchery the winds had dropped enough that we could see WESTERN GREBES on the Columbia and here we saw a YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER in the ash trees. At Underwood, we picked up WILD TURKEY on Packard Road and then continued on through Willard to return to Highway 14. In Willard, Les spotted an AMERICAN KESTREL and another flock of Wild Turkeys. As we headed back down the Columbia River and back into the strong winds our last bird we added was a ROCK PIGEON, for a total of 59 species for the day. This was an easy record to set as there were no others listed in Washington Birder. Wilson Cady
Skamania County, WA