Blair:



Great story!



My? goals for the 2012 were modest but sufficient to keep me moving:

? I wanted to ? bird in each of?the 19 Western WA counties, and
? I wanted to see a minimum of 200 species



Thanks to?several great ?birding buddies, Tweeters, WOS and eBird?my goals were exceeded in six months.? I'm?having such a great time?that I've decided to?just keep going..... ?





Congratulations ,



Ann Marie Wood
Mountlake Terrace, WA

annmariewood at comcast.net



----- Original Message -----
I have been birding a lot this year and posting a
lot as I went. Apologies for perhaps too much of
the latter. ?BUT...there are reasons:
Last year I had shoulder replacement surgery that
significantly hampered my ability to hold
binoculars and birding was a challenge. The
surgery was supposed to correct that but did so
only marginally and by the end of the year it had
deteriorated and I had another surgery late in
January. ?To help encourage recovery and distract
from the situation a friend issued a challenge: ?
See "X" number of birds in the state by the end of
June and he would contribute that same $X to
nature related charities of my choice. ?After a
lot of thought and calculation I decided to "go
for it" and we agreed on X to be 300 birds - as I
wanted it to be challenging but possible. And as
extra incentive I agreed to make a similar
contribution to his "causes" if I failed.
Thanks in large part to Tweeters, Opperman et al,
Seattle Audubon, Washington Ornithological Society
and EBird I covered a lot of ground and found a
lot of birds but a number of "misses" (Chestnut
Sided Warbler, Flammulated Owl, Long Eared Owl
among others) and forgot abouts (Sage Grouse and
King Eider among others) had me in a position this
week where although I was very close, I was not
sure I was going to make it. ?It did not help that
some soul searching caused me to revise my
spotting of a Hermit Warbler at Mt. Walker to
"Hybrid" when observers saw the pictures I had
posted and found hybrid traits that I had missed. ?
A trip to Capitol Forest - beautiful but confusing
place - fixed that. ?It also did not help when I
had to take my car in to the shop this week for
unexpected replacement of a transmission system,
but a loaner car resolved that complication.
Tuesday night I stood at 298 birds and wondered
how I would find the final two. ?I am going to be
at Sun Mountain Lodge on June 30 so I figured I
would pin my hopes on a Poorwill (missed in
Spokane) and a Dusky Grouse - good chance but the
"chicken birds" are never a given at least for
me. ?Then I saw Rick Taylor's post about Acorn
Woodpeckers on Grayback Road. ?I had missed the
Acorns at Lyle and also at the amazing sighting on
Fox Island. ?Those were major bird disappointments
but included some wonderful interpersonal times -
those and others being MAJOR pluses from my
journey on quest this year. ?It would be a long
trip ... but maybe. ?Apparently my brain made up
my mind for me as I woke up after only 4 hours of
sleep at 4:00 ... wide awake. ?I was on the road
before 5:00 a.m. and on my way for hopefully the
Woodpecker and thought I might also stop at Bethel
Ridge on the way home to try for a 3 Toed or maybe
even stay late and seek a Poorwill at Robinson Canyon.
I had maps and directions from Google and from
Rick's post and my trusted Delorme but I still
completely missed the turnoff onto Grayback Road
from Goldendale Glenwood Highway. ?I know the
route because it takes me to a favorite fishing
spot, Stinson Flats on the Klickitat River where
we camp on Steelhead Floats. ?Having gone past the
turnoff, I birded Stinson Flats for a while and
had best ever looks at Cassins Vireo but simply
could not get a focused picture in the Oaks (a
problem that recurred later). ?I saw several
people there and on the road, locals and even a
County official, and nobody knew where Grayback
Road was. ?My hopes waned. ?But I re-read Rick
Taylor's post and re-consulted every map and
figured it had to be an unsigned road back a few
miles. ?It was - no sign and a dirt road - so I
was back on task after losing an hour to the day. ?
As soon as I got to what I believed to be the
Woodpecker spot, two woodpeckers took off and
disappeared into an area behind a barbed wire
fence. ?I would have bet money that they were
Acorns but certainly very poor looks - not good
enough for identification for my purposes. ?I
tried there and at two more spots for more than an
hour to see them again or to lure them in with a
recording. ?No luck although I was pretty sure I
had heard a single reply in the distance once. ?An
incredible bonus was a young Golden Eagle that
flew by me - no more than 50 feet away and no more
than 10 feet off the ground and then it went off
over the ridge down to the Klickitat Valley.
Then I saw that my cell phone was finally working
and it downloaded 20 emails all at once including
one from Rick Taylor who had responded to one from
me. ?He gave me his cell and we ended up talking
... confirming that I was in the right spot. ?I
spent another 30 minutes there and FINALLY two
birds came around. ?Could never get a clear shot
in the Oaks for a picture but clear views and
definitely THEM. ?So off I went figuring I might
try Bethel Ridge. (Apparently Russ Koppendreyer
arrived at this spot not too long after I
left...wish we had intersected as I always enjoy
his posts and we have not met). ?BTW - the
Grayback Road area is spectacularly beautiful with
incredible views of the Klickitat River below and
Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams in the distance. ?The road
is easily navigated. Take the left fork if you go in.
When I looked at the map I noted that Kennewick,
while not on the way home..."was not all that far
away". ?I had not seen a post on the N. Parula for
a couple of days and did not know if the bird was
still present. ?It was a beautiful day, I have
never been to Tri-Cities so.... ?Off I went. ?I
initially missed the Columbia Park turnoff so did
some doubling back and then found "Kiwanis Park" -
both areas. ?It was over 80 degrees, bright sun
and I was hearing no birds anywhere as I got out
of the car so I was hopeful but not optimistic. ?
The area is larger than I expected with lots of
trees of varied species - open and accessible. ?
After about 30 minutes (and yes I did play the
call more than once without any response), I heard
what I thought was a similar call from large trees
behind the building. ?I ran over and finally had a
good luck at this beautiful little warbler. ?The
quest was over. ?Number 300 - and what a great
number 300 was found - a new state bird, although
I had seen it in the East.
It was a very long trip back (not helped by the 1
hour delay for "blasting" at Snoqualmie Pass
area). ?More than 625 miles for the day. ?But a
great feeling. ?WOS, Seattle Audubon, Ebird and
Save the Tigers will all benefit.
Thank you to everyone who helped and made this
both possible and enjoyable (including perhaps
some of you reading this and especially today to
Rick Taylor). ?I do not like listing - much prefer
simply birding - but this time it was worth it.