Hi Tweeters,

Dave Hayden forced me to play hookey from work and go birding today. We spent the day along Bethel Ridge Rd. off of Hwy 12 after a short stop at the nearby Hause Creek Campground. It was very birdy out that way, both in numbers of birds as well as species seen (nearly 50).

Hause Creek Campground: I've gone to this location a number of times, but I don't recall ever seeing so many species. A partial list includes a surprise WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER, RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, HOUSE WREN, CASSIN'S FINCH, WARBLING VIREO, WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, YELLOW WARBLER, MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER, CALIFORNIA QUAIL, WESTERN TANAGER, SONG SPARROW, CHIPPING SPARROW, TURKEY VULTURE, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, 3 species of SWALLOWS, C. RAVEN, A. ROBIN, and RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD. No Gray Catbirds yet.

Bethel Ridge, side road 1304: Several HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHERS (present at many stops today), WARBLING VIREO, HAIRY WOODPECKER (at least 4), DOWNY WOODPECKER (the first time that I've seen this species at Bethel Ridge), NORTHERN FLICKER, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, CEDAR WAXWING, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, WESTERN BLUEBIRD, WESTERN TANAGER, TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, and DARK-EYED JUNCO .

Bethel Ridge Rd., first Aspen grove near fenced meadow: DUSKY FLYCATCHER, SOOTY GROUSE booming, RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER .

As we drove up the road, Cassin's Finches and Chipping Sparrows became very common. Perhaps 5 miles up the road, near a large metal culvert and before the 2nd aspen grove, we spotted a N. GOSHAWK soaring up the valley to our left. Another SOOTY GROUSE was booming here as well. At the second Aspen grove new species included MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE, BALD EAGLE (a bit of a surprise), and a HERMIT THRUSH. It was calling from the undergrowth; I realized that while I had heard its song on several occasions, I don't recall having ever heard its call before. It sounded exactly like a spotted towhee choking on a ham sandwich. A bit farther up the road we saw a CLARK'S NUTCRACKER, well away form its native mountain resort habitat.

We parked a little before the turn-off to the microwave tower as the road was getting muddier and was covered in snow in places. We then walked perhaps 1.5 miles up the tower road, exploring the burned areas and sliding around on the increasingly deep snow. I had to save Dave's life in several instances. The bark is coming off of many of the trees and I think that it will only be a matter of another year or two before it is no longer suitable for the woodpeckers that prefer this type of habitat. If you've been planning to come here for the woodpeckers, I would do so this year if possible. We definitely had to work harder to find them this time. Perhaps a mile in we finally found a nesting pair of WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKERS (in a Ponderosa Pine snag, not in an Aspen). After bushwhacking through the mud and snow for maybe another half mile, we eventually came across a male and female BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER. We were hoping for a three-toed, but no luck. In addition, there was a calling GOSHAWK, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD, PINE SISKIN, and STELLAR'S JAY.

On the way out, we tried several times for Cassin's Vireo with no luck. We did get a flyby of 3 EVENING GROSBEAKS however.

Lots of FOY birds for me today. Much better than going to work.

Lonnie Somer
Olympia
wheelermombi at comcast.net