Hi Tweeters,

I enjoyed a remarkable 7 hours of birding up on Larch Mountain, Clark
County, Washington today with, in my humble opinion, great success.

My first location was at coordinates 45.6937-122.2735 (aka Migration
Corner). Highlights were:

CASSIN'S FINCH - 1 (my first for Clark County)
Townsend's Solitaire - 7 (the most I've ever had in Clark County)
SAY'S PHOEBE - 1 (my first ever in "Fall" in Clark County)

My second location was at coordinates 45.7049x-122.2834. Highlights were:

CLARK'S NUTCRACKER - 3 (one flock, my first for Clark County)
CASSIN'S FINCH - 1 (wow, my second one for the day)
Townsend's Solitaire - 4

There was some raptor movement too with the following combined list from
both locations:

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 7
Cooper's Hawk - 4
Sharp-shinned/Cooper's - 1
Northern Harrier - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 4
Merlin - 3 (Clark County year bird)
American Kestrel - 1

At both locations, I was on the western edge of the smoke from either the
Eagle Creek fire or one of the fires east of Mt. Rainier. I don't know if
these birds migrate around the edge of the smoke which would explain why I
saw several species that usually occur more commonly in the central
Cascades or nearer the eastern slope.

Maybe if you can see the edge of a smoke cloud, then stop and bird there if
it is safe and visibility permits.

Keep your eyes and ears skyward (except when ash is falling).

Jim
--
Jim Danzenbaker
Battle Ground, WA
360-702-9395
jdanzenbaker at gmail.com