Mission Accomplished!

 

Putting Walla Walla and Columbia Counties in the rearview mirror
oh wait... that's the side mirror. Please roll with this thought, anyway. :)

Good lord, I did it. The goal? 150 species for the year in two counties on the far side of the state. Doing it with monthlyish trips. Columbia: 158. Walla Walla: 151. December came, and I tapped out! It had been a long year of long trips, and the potential additions weren't enough to pull me over. So, I'll put a bow on it. 

One fun piece that I do every year is emailing Matt Bartels. Matt is one of two people who have seen over 200 species in the state. He held the previous record for Columbia County at 172 (broken this year, but mind you... the 172 is pre-eBird!). He also happens to manage the county checklists for the Washington Ornithological Society.

Checklists, much like maps, are one of my favorite things.
Both of them are abstract representations of real things. 
It's so fun to find the "real" versions of all of these words!

Those checklists have all of the species coded out, and they are the first stop in all of my yearly planning: Code 1 birds are the ones that are hard not to find (although Common Nighthawk in Columbia made a fool out of me this year). Code 2 birds are not hard to find (I got 52 of 55 in Columbia). Code 3 birds ARE hard to find (80 percent seems to be my sweet spot when I focus on a county for a year, and I got just over that in Columbia).

Birds beyond those codes, the 4's and the 5's are a real challenge. At best, a pattern of sightings, but not annual birds. In this case, I went into the year wondering... which of these code 4 birds would TRULY be code 4 birds. In other words, try all I want, they just might not show up. 

Green-tailed Towhee - a code 4 bird that might be found annually with some effort?

I got some answers! 

Scouring the county along with me this year were Christopher Lindsey and Jef Blake - two eastside birders who decided to give it a little more attention as well, including some kayak trips along the Snake and Tucannon Rivers, turning up some birds I never would have found. Both of them eclipsed the old record of 172 species (197 and 186 respectively, barring any last-minute surprises!). Along the way, we brought up some good questions for the county codes. It's especially fun to do this in underbirded counties, since it helps paint a more accurate picture of the abundance of some of the birds out there. Matt takes all of the suggestions objectively and consistently. How he manages 39 counties with hundreds of birds coded in every county is a mystery!

Say's Phoebe - one of very few observations I had of this code 1 bird during the year

But what fun! I have enjoyed going through the pictures from the year... taking in all of the beautiful places I've been. So many of them were brand new places for me, but Columbia County especially feels like an old friend now. I'm still a dozen-ish birds short of 175 species in the county, so I'll be back in years to come, trying to find Boreal Owls, American Three-toed Woodpeckers, maybe a Merlin. 

Man...If I have to go back here someday to look for Great Gray Owls... 
How terrible would that be? ;)

Walla Walla was indeed as easy as I thought it might be. My life list grew to 177 with not a lot of focus. It's just a birdy place! Add to this, there is such a robust birding community in the county - leaving plenty of breadcrumbs for other birders to follow. Walla Walla County needed nothing from me this year, and I dare say I gave it everything it needed! I looked at the list of birds seen in Walla Walla this year (over 260 birds!), to see if there was even a species where I had been the first person to find it for the year. Uh.... yes and no.

First person during the year to have trouble identifying gulls, at any rate. :D

There will be other counties like this as I continue this lil journey (Sure, Tim... this 20 year journey that you're half-way through is "lil"). Seeing 150 species in Grays Harbor... lord, I want to look it up now, but I think that's been done in a day? 

Correction - 162 species! :D

The present plan is to pair Grays Harbor with Clallam some year down the road. Just make it an absolutely stupid year.

I'm honestly scared of that year! If a Song Thrush or a Bay-breasted Warbler shows up, I have this sinking feeling that I'd be as flat-footed as... well, as me. As it turns out, I have almost perfectly flat feet. Come to think of it, that may explain so much... 

So, I figured it was time for a little warm up. A county that is perfectly ready to dish up some good vagrants. A county that will test my ability to identify a wider range of shorebirds, gulls, and (gasp!) pelagic birds. And yet, somehow... an underbirded county? It'll be Pacific County in 2026!

And, yeah, for the first time in 3-4 years, I'm actually going to focus on a single county. The last single county effort was Klickitat County - 1800 square miles, and 3 1/2 hours away. Pacific? 900 square miles, and 2 1/2 hours away. Not only closer for me, but closer to a lot of birders. I actually have some hope that we'll get a little bit of a picnic table effect and find some good birds in 2026! No passes to clear, like I had in 2025. Heck. I may even chase some birds in 2026... unspeakably rare for me. The year list record is 220. I'd love to see how long I can keep it in reach!

But for now, goodbye Blue Mountains and wheat fields. Goodbye Snake and Tucannon, Goodbye Walla Walla and Columbia. <3 Thanks for the special year!

November 3rd - Walla Walla Finish Line

Full disclosure. I tried for November 2nd. Daylight savings made a fool out of me somehow. I had just started a new writing project, and I took that extra hour of sleep - ate it right up. I knew I didn't need to pack a lot for this trip. I had no plans to camp. It was just going to be a focused trip where I had hopes of finding bird number 150 in Walla Walla County for the year.

And that, if you're not up to speed, has been the goal. To have a year like that for every one of the 39 counties in Washington State. 

So far...

1. King County (201 birds - 2010)
2. Thurston County (152 - 2012)
3. Island County (150 - 2013)
4. Kittitas County (151 - 2014)
5. Mason County (179 - 2015), including the first blog for these years
6. Chelan County (197 - 2016)
7. Yakima County and Snohomish County (181, and 179 - 2017)
8. Lewis County (169 - 2018), a blog that was lost to life after a nice start
9. Pierce County (159 - 2020, unblogged)
10. Douglas County (204 - 2021)
11. Klickitat County (188 - 2022)
12. Clark, Skamania, Cowlitz, and Wahkiakum Counties (152, 151, 151, and 151 - 2023) Yep! "Just to see how that would go". Lovely year. Never doing that again!
13. Jefferson and Kitsap Counties (195 and 155) A very unequal effort on these two counties, similar to this year's unequal efforts in Columbia and Walla Walla!

Oh whoops, that was supposed to be a running tally - That's 18 of them above. Columbia became the 19th county complete, earlier this year. And now it was down to one more bird to find in Walla Walla to make it 150. 

McNary National Wildlife Refuge (Headquarters)

I'd struck out on a previous trip and set myself up well to strike out on this one - striking out late enough to just arrive at McNary NWR as the sun was getting low. I got to enjoy some Snow Geese and got some nice pictures!

Back across the Snake River to Pasco for the evening. I returned to McNary the next morning, with a few target birds in mind. I got two of them!

Bonaparte's Gulls, by the hundreds, were on the water here - bird 150 for the year in Walla Walla!

I like to have a cushion bird in these years - just in case there's lumping, or as happened in Mason County - an identification correction gets applied. In Mason it was a Glaucous Gull sighting. The bird had been seen and reported by many people, including myself. Better birders than I were able to suss out some signs of hybridization, so that one got taken off of the year list. For me, the cushion bird in Walla Walla was Eared Grebe (151). 

Eared Grebes have been a fun bird for me in the last year or two. So often, I'm relying on breeding plumage birds to have some certainty about identifying the birds as Horned or Eared. But I got into the weeds on a bird last year in Jefferson County. After some help from an eBird reviewer, I finally got dialed in on bill shape. The bird on the left here is showing it pretty well - the bottom half of the bill is tapered more at the end, giving a false-impression of an upward-turned bill. Other things point to Eared as well, of course, most notably the peak of the head being so far forward, and the compact build of the bird. Some of those can change - and I watched them change as the birds moved around, stretched out their necks etc. But the bill shape is fairly bulletproof. Kind of these bird to wander in so close!

And now... it was like 8 or 9 AM, and I only had to get to Yakima by day's end to spend some time with Mom. I'd kind of planned on a relentless search for these two birds. Running right up against sunset if needed! But I had time for other things now. So, I set off for Columbia County!

The Snake River

Most of the interesting opportunities for me lay along the Snake River. Water birds, naturally, but even the off chance of picking up a Golden-crowned Sparrow, or something along those lines, was possible in the shrubby bits found in most of the parks along the way. 

There was no sign

I tried the Lyons Ferry KOA first. The waters on the Columbia side were sadly empty, although I could see gulls lined up at a park on the far side. I made the decision to cross the river - not for the gulls, but for a chance to get the "Welcome to Columbia County" sign on the bridge. As I was crossing, the gull roost emptied - the birds flying past me in the other direction, swirling around on the Columbia side of the river before returning. 

I pulled in at Lyons Ferry State Park to get a closer look at the gulls and found the ones I'd hoped to find - Bonaparte's Gulls! 158 for my Columbia County year.

And this is the kind of stuff that county birders love to have stories about - the bird that flew over the county line. It's a little silly, but in other ways it's not! Defining county borders naturally makes some birds easier and some birds harder. And it becomes most interesting around the borders. What birds are often seen just across those lines, and can you catch them wandering? So, on this day, Franklin County donated a Bonaparte's Gull to Columbia for me. 

I made a stop at Tucannon HMU - just to the parking lot. The weather was not uncooperative at all, but I wasn't really prepared to make the hike to the mouth that I'd done several times during the year. From the little parking area, I poked around in all directions, just hoping to see a little bit further down the winding Tucannon, with hopes of finding a Northern Shoveler or five poking around on the shores. I had dreams of kayaking in Columbia this year, but the income-expenditures battle needed to have the front lines move in the right direction.

So, I left to head up the highway and take the road to Little Goose Dam. The Columbia here had some Canada Geese, some Western Grebes (a code 3 bird that might have been exciting at the start of the year!), and then I got an interesting goose in a flock flying overhead: 

How appropriate, on the road to Little Goose Dam! That little goose was so backlit. I think I've mentioned this before, but I'll say it again: There are times where there are very short windows of opportunity with a bird. And we have to figure out what to point at it. I did point the binoculars at it briefly, and my brain (which wanted a Snow Goose) told me it was a lightly colored bird. . . But I figured it was time to start shooting pictures fast. 

All of these birds are lightly colored underneath. Canada Geese are, and Cackling Geese are, all in all. I didn't get an ID on it until I'd gotten home and reaaaally adjusted the lighting in the photo. No dark wingtips, and even the shape of the wingtips pointed more towards Cackling Goose than Snow. Good bit of excitement, anyway! In The Big Year, Jack Black does a dive and roll to get a picture of a Western Tanager. I've often pfffft'ed during that scene. No experienced birder would do that just to get a Western Tanager in the ABA region. 

But a Snow Goose in Columbia County? Maybe. Maybe. 

Texas Rapids HMU is one of the first stops along the Snake. More of the same birds out in the river. 

Western Grebe. 
I think I've been focused on the bill color, but who could tell carrot/banana in this light?
For a grebe to get a closer look and consideration for Clark's Grebe, 
I'm looking for much lighter flanks.

There were more gulls out on the water as well. I think at this point, my targets had gotten pretty specific: Look for gulls with light primaries (Glaucous-winged Gull), or birds with very dark mantles (Western Gull), or. . . just look really closely at any other pictures of roosting gulls for a possible Iceland Gull. I am still not at a point where I am likely to pull out any of those species while looking at immature gulls. Some day? Someday! 

California Gull

Little Goose Dam

At the dam itself, I had some nice opportunities to watch gulls in flight, much closer than I'd had them on previous visits. None of them had features that pushed me to focus more on a particular gull. Dark primaries, but none with particularly dark mantles. Most of the gulls I saw were pretty easy to sort into Herring, Ring-billed, and California. . . and then there were the ones I overlooked!

This picture shows a gull with light primaries. It could have been a Glaucous-winged Gull, and could have been a hybrid, but identification would have required a better look at the bill structure and the eye. So, this. . . was a missed opportunity!

The front and center gull has a lot going for it that might point in the direction of an Iceland (Thayer's) Gull. Black primaries and pink legs are easy to see, as is the smudgy head. The iris may be dark? The mantle may also be dark enough to point towards Thayer's, rather than Herring? But the picture quality isn't really enough to clearly see those two features. A better birder than I took a look at this and noted that the "underside of the far primary is black", which points to Herring. I'm struggling a little to read topside/underside from the pic, but. . . again, the picture is NOT pointing clearly enough away from Herring Gull. 

Glad that I at least caught these birds afterwards, but it's just another reminder that better diligence, and getting the photography dialed in a bit better would both serve me well!

The end of the line?

I took the road all the way to the end. Little Goose Landing is a boat ramp/park that I've visited several times this year. The usual juncos were there to meet me! On the far side of the water, I also caught a Northern Harrier coursing along the riverside in Whitman County. But none of the loons, scoters, or other goodies that I'd dreamed of. I looked longingly down the Columbia and wondered "Maybe I could just go traipsing through this field!" I didn't realize that I was joking, and before I could explain, I came across this sign: 

This was clearly a hikable stretch along the Snake! I looked at my map and saw a little cove up ahead that I just might be able to reach! So, I set off past the end of the road, as far as they'd let me walk. 

It was a lovely walk. Ring-necked Pheasants, five or six of them, erupted out of the grass at one point. I kept my eyes on the hills, unsure of what a Prairie Falcon would hate about this habitat, and on the Snake, where a single Western Grebe followed me upriver. 

For the lack of a better name, I might call this Rabbit Hollow Cove

I finally reached the little cove - hard to tell from any map what source would have carved it out. Rabbit Hollow is one possibility, one of the sometimes streams that trickle ephemerally towards the Snake. As I got closer to this little cove, a dozen or so Canada Geese took flight. Remaining in the water were four Horned Grebes. 

These are code 3 birds in the county, and worth the walk by all means. Although the birds themselves weren't new for the year, the water was. I had recognized the value of every calm bit of water like this in the county. There's not a lot of it! So, this little walk would be well-recommended for anyone hunting down waterfowl in Columbia County. 

Not recommended! This was the actual end of the line. I enjoyed knowing I had found the end.

Starbuck to Archer Road.

I swung back up towards Highway 12, which took me past Starbuck. I needed absolutely nothing from the town store, except simply to stop there one more time. What an eerie stop!! I walked in and looked for anything in the beverage section or snack section, but the shelves seemed just a little bare. The clerk apologized for the bare shelves and explained that they'd be moving across the street. This... is very cool. The tall brick building across the street clearly used to be a restaurant - Rebecca's Place is still on the door, and a peek through the front window makes it clear that this was a little sit-down place in town. 

I'm not sure what name it will be under, but the owners said they'd be moving in during the next months, would start with breakfast and lunch, with dreams of being open for dinner. I started to explain what I was doing for the year, and that I might not catch them post-opening. The guy at the desk chuckled and clarified that he remembered me from a previous trip. Good luck to them! And I really do hope that they sell mugs someday. A coffee mug from Starbuck, Washington... what more could one want? 

Up to 12, and I almost turned towards Dayton before remembering - Archer Road!!

Snake River - visible from the gated end of the public portion of Archer Road. 

I had some Western Meadowlarks singing - what more could one need? 

I returned along the road, and I saw a farmer just pulling into a driveway. Naturally I pulled in. I pulled in to ask him about Barn Owls. I look for Barn Owls, perhaps to give me a reason to pull in at farms and chat with people. It's a chicken and egg situation here that I try not to question. No owl, but it was a nice talk. I guess in the end, it was just two guys talking about a beautiful place. 

Dayton

It's November... and I was running around mug-less. I'd checked the thrift store in town every time I passed it, but these were desperate times. I went to the Dayton Chamber of Commerce. Three people were in the office, and I got the full list of places to check in town. Additionally, I left my number, just in case anything turned up. 

Nada. The closest I got? Over at Dingle's True Value Hardware, I searched the shelves, and then overheard: 

"blah blah blah blah and here are the coffee cups blah blah blah"

!!!

The mugs read "True Value". Had it included "Dayton" or "Dingle's", my final box would have been checked for the year. 

(Update: I got a text during the following week. A mug is waiting for me... 

I made a final check of Pittman Pond on the way out of town, finding a couple more Cackling Geese, mixed in with a large flock of Canadas: 

Cacklers in the Backlers - the two little guys on the far shore, center and right of center

Likely another happy second third place!

The record in Columbia County prior to this year was 172. I hate to break it to you folks, but I'm not breaking that record! 158 species has been a lovely year, and I may add a few more when I go to pick up that mug in December, but as it turns out... 172 would not have mattered. Not remotely!

Christopher Lindsey and Jef Blake are two local-ish birders (Walla Walla and Tri-Cities respectively) who found an interest in the question I was asking, "How many birds can a person find in Columbia County in a year?" Matt Bartels had answered that with such a solid number a couple decades back. But with eBird on hand, it makes absolute sense that the record would fall, and even more sense that it would go to locals who could more easily make trips to pull more birds out of the county. 

Christopher and Jef also had three other things that helped them push well beyond 172: excellent birding knowledge, good photography skills, and... kayaks! It can't be emphasized enough how many birds are hiding around corners on the Tucannon, or out on New York Island, farther up the Snake. They got out often, had some clearer roads than I did for Boreal Owls, and the totals? 196 for Chris, and 185 for Jef. And counting! 

And it's not the first time that county records have been broken when I've set out to do one of these years (I have hesitated to call them "Big Years" because those words are what take my efforts (Gung ho!) and turn them into something else (hellbent)). 

To wit: 

Mason County - broken by Cara Borre in 2015 in the year I did my first blog on Mason County. She got me by five birds or so, and we got many of them together. 

Lewis County - broken by Dalton Spencer in 2018 - the year I tackled Lewis County. 

Klickitat County - broken by Sam Holman in 2022

Jefferson County - broken last year by Steve Hampton 

I love this and would love to see it continue! I always figure there is some number of birds that is possible during a good year in a county. And these things help to make it happen: 

1. A good understanding of the occurrence of birds in the county. I research the bejeezus out of it every year I do these. This has helped me more than anything in finding species. 

2. Birding knowledge, birding skill: Never have I ever been the smartest guy in the room with birds. I got started late, I don't have a deep life list, and like.... I plan it out right up to the point of being where good birds are... and pray that the knowledge I've accumulated will be enough! I'm learning more all of the time, but lord it feels glacial sometimes. 

3. A willingness to chase. NOPE! Actually... I may bend on this a little during... some year coming up. But in general, I *plan* my trips, rather than letting the birds plan them at the drop of a hat. I miss birds for this. 

4. Gear. Working on it... but then why am I still running around with binoculars held together by tape? Great question, Tim. Great question.

5. Location: Do you live in or near the area where the big year is occurring? Well, that helps. :D I don't! These years all involve monthly-ish trips from a distance. 

6. Connections/information/gumption/luck - A lot of things to lump together here, but birding with others can add to nearly all of the categories listed above. I do have gumption. I have the ability to gump. 

So... yeah, the end goal, the TRUE end goal here is never to try to be the best birder ever in county X. I think I just see what's possible for ME. And sweet baby Jesus...If I can find as many birds as I have in some of these counties, I can guarantee you there are people who can find even more! I just find the pursuit enjoyable, and exponentially more enjoyable when the bug for a certain county is caught. 

One... more... trip! :)

October 7, 8 - A Try for Boreal Owls

Goodness life has gotten busy. 

And when I get busier, the details slip. I have wondered now and again if it's something diagnosable as ADHD? And I think I've even had someone tell me "Yes. Obviously, yes." But. . . I think I'm good. I may have it. I know that my mind can be a maelstrom; It can be a little too focused. But I don't fear that maelstrom. 

I... I mean, I just wish that I could go back into that maelstrom and drop in a quick reminder to plug in my camera battery. But yaknow... I'm willing to accept some of this in life to remain who I am. I've gotten good at being gentle with myself in these situations and figuring out the next best plan. 

I had opportunities! I had rolled into Walla Walla County on a Monday. I used my camera. I birded. I got a hotel room in Walla Walla. But some combination of "I'm tired of running back and forth from my car," and "I probably have enough charge on the battery," along with, "How did the Mariners do in the ALDS?" pushed this back to a lower priority. 

So, as I went through Walla Walla County on a Monday, I got a few pictures. 

This picture, somehow, was the best representative for the day. There's no birds in it. . . and on a day where my Walla Walla total went from 149 to 149. . . in a year where my goal was 150? I think this is perfect. I'd put a lot of faith in Eared Grebes and White-throated Sparrows, and that faith (or perhaps my faith in my ability to notice them?) was unfounded. But it was a lovely day, nonetheless.

There were some shorebirds coming through as well, but the Iowa/Dodd/Blood... I don't even know what this site is, after a year birding there. But I could not tease out any new species out of the distant shorebirds I viewed through my scope. And my camera was maybe of even less help. I did have some good views of Pectoral Sandpipers, a species I'd come across already this year in Walla Walla, but that was it. 

Bloodowadoddason Pondsroad

I sincerely wish that I could provide an accurate, helpful, simple description of where to park, and where to look for birds at this location, but it's a little bit of soup - even as we near the end of the year! I have found some good birds in this vicinity but am sometimes tripped up by the nomenclature for some of the specific spots, so it has been hard to find reported birds and to report birds found. Alas!

Dinner in Walla Walla - I sat down at Marcy's, as I have done once before. Great food, great drinks, great bartender. She remembered me a month later! On a previous trip, I'd ordered risotto (one of my favorite things to make; one of my favorite things to consume) and had been told they were out. I got my satisfaction this time!

Which brings us to the 7th! 

The 7th

That morning, I got up, did not charge my camera battery, and meandered my way towards Godman Campground. During the night, Boreal Owls would be my target. Arriving in the early afternoon, I still had plenty of other targets to pursue. Pine Grosbeak, American Three-toed Woodpecker, and Black Backed Woodpecker. . . I was missing all of these for the year. They were all seen in this area during this very weekend. Spoilers! I missed all of them. It was magnificent. 

You know who never needs a charge, or seemingly never??
Flippy... my flip phone. All photos from here on out are Flippy's work.
Godman Campground

"Do you find your own birds?"

I won't make it a whole flashback sequence here but will thread another experience in here. There had recently been an outbreak of rare birds showing up in my hometown of Renton. A Red Knot, a Red-necked Stint, an Upland Sandpiper... among others. So, I found myself down on the waterfront, scoping shorebirds with an amazing collection of local birders. It's always nice to cross paths with old friends, or to put new names to faces. I sometimes think that I should chase rarities more often for these experiences. 

One new face was a twenty-something birder from King County. I recognized his name, and he recognized mine. We were both, I think, happy to put names to faces. My blogs, and my efforts this year came up in conversation, and he asked, "So. . . do you find your own birds?" 

And I get it, I really do. I know exactly what he means. There are birders who seem to regularly be the ones to post about finding a warbler over here, a stint over here, the first name-that-bird found in this county over there. They aren't relying on reports from others - they are out there making it happen on their own. It's a very cool club to be in. I was essentially being asked to give the secret handshake, or something. 

But good lord. Yeah, for better or worse, I DO find my own birds. I found every White-crowned Sparrow the day before, and I found a darn lot of Dark-eyed Juncos and Cassin's Finches on this October 7th. I miss my own birds, perhaps. I bring myself to places where there really may have been some pretty cool birds, and I probably miss those cool ones. 

To be fair, I am a rare/poor bird chaser. I don't have super long life lists in the state or otherwise, and that is in part because I don't rely on other people finding birds for me. BUT. . . I'll spend a whole year going to Columbia County once a month. lol. I'll get excited for finally finding my first Black-capped Chickadee for my Walla Walla County year. Is that a bird I found on my own? Um. . . heck yeah! But I don't believe it allows me to give the secret handshake. 

I didn't know at the time how to answer that question, but this ramble has been about as close as I can get. I'll amend the answer later in the post with one exception. . . 

West Butte Creek Trail

What a gorgeous day, what a gorgeous hike. If asked a few days earlier, I think I may have told people that I was going to hike Oregon Butte, but this hike departed right from the campground where I had set up my tent. 

Early on, the hike descends into some Douglas Firs, lined with Douglas Maple and Snowberry. Despite all of my complaints about not getting any new birds, I did find some birds that Chris Lindsey (who at the time of writing this has smashed the old Columbia County year list record) still had not found - Evening Grosbeak. They were hardly the only finches during my hike. Cassin's Finches, Pine Siskins, and Red Crossbill were the most prominent other members. 

I got Steller's Jays. I got Dark-eyed Juncos. I got woodpeckers. 

And the woodpeckers... buckle up friends. I suffered much at the hands of woodpeckers on this trip!

I have left the gray line in here - a flip-phone artifact that is easy to 
remove from an image. I'm leaving it here as a curiosity.

It was fun watching the Douglas Firs start to turn into Ponderosa Pines as I added some mileage. I was heading southeast. I had this sense that the southeasternmost corner of the county contains some almost sizable patches of Ponderosa Pine, and that it might be a good place to look for some birds like Flammulated Owl, White-headed Woodpecker, and Pygmy Nuthatch. 

At one such tree, I heard a woodpecker tapping. 

I do enjoy birding by ear, but I usually can't do much with tapping. On the THOK THOK THOK end, it can be easy to identify a Pileated Woodpecker. On the lighter end of tapping, the best I can do is guess Downy Woodpecker, only to get surprised by a chickadee. In between, on a good day, my brain will remind me that the tapping sounds like a sapsucker.

This tapping was just somewhere in between. My head list of possible birds were all in the Picoides family - Hairy, Black-backed, American Three-toed, and White-headed. I stopped on the trail, found a place where the low sun wasn't right in my eyes, and waited. A good birder, out there finding their own birds, would wait.

15 minutes later, I tapped out. I had heard the bird resume tapping several times, had tried to get some alternate views of the tree, but it just remained out of view. Onward!

What a great trail! It slowly started dipping lower along ridge lines. I passed one group of four on horses and could see the appeal of riding on a trail like this. And the weather was just magnificent. Not so hot as to get me dripping with sweat, not so cold as to need more than a t-shirt (I brought, and quickly removed, a hooded sweatshirt). The breeze was light and pleasant. 

And then I came across another tree, another woodpecker, and this time I dug in. I had driven to the far corner of the state, hiked farther towards said corner along mountain ridges, and through forests... looking for birds. I wasn't going to just walk away from a woodpecker! Ha... ha.... ha?

After 20 minutes or so, I was starting to doubt my sanity. This tree was closer off of the trail, so I walked down to it, circled it as I viewed the top. Nada. I got briefly distracted by a finch calling in a nearby tree. I turned to look at it (Cassin's Finch), and heard the worst possible call, a "pik" sound. Still just leaving it in the Picoides family and confirming that there was a woodpecker up there. My guesses narrowed softly to a Hairy or Three-toed. It wasn't a soft enough call to be a Downy. It wasn't wooden enough to convince me it was a Black-backed. At the time, I'm sure White-headed was still on my list of possibilities, mostly because I'm not at all familiar with their call. So, the call was able to pin me down there without actually identifying the bird. 

Folks, I tried. I circled this tree a few times. I tried viewing from higher up on the trail where I'd started. I tried laying down under the tree against my pack - just looking up. Did I spend 40 minutes trying to get a peek at this bird? It's very possible. Sometimes this just happens to me with woodpeckers, but to have this happen twice on this hike, when all I really needed (in daylight) was woodpeckers. I had a lovely laugh over this. 

I'd budgeted enough time for a lazy hike, so this wasn't a hardship. I kept moving along, seeing the trees continue to shift towards pine. Some of them I looked at, and thought maybe they were Lodgepole Pine? But some Ponderosa were clearly mixed in. 

Cones, needles, bark, lichen, and a few rows of sapsucker holes. 

On the last stretch back to camp, my phone buzzed with score updates from my daughter. She'd picked up on the excitement of the Mariners over the summer. She was now my most likely person to send an angry text about a pitcher, a roster move, etc. I was shocked more than anything that I was getting reception. In Columbia County, reception had largely been limited to a circle around Dayton. This was a godsend. Not only because I got to share the time, but because I've been trying to make sure someone knows where I've gone off to. . . 

Flippy did some good work this day

I got back to camp and worked on the other half of a sub sandwich I'd purchased at a gas station in Dayton. I hopped in the car on a whim, and found a station with the game, listening through the last innings, and actually drifting off to sleep in the car! 

I woke up with it dark a few hours later and decided to give my night of owling an honest start. My destinations were the Twin Butte Trailhead and Table Rock. Both had at least some history of Boreal Owls - a species I have never heard or seen in life. I rarely use recordings, but for this particular owl, it seemed like this was the one way to go. Their habitat is often inaccessible during times of year when they are singing. In this window (September-November), they will respond to their song with a "skiew" call. I often hear a similar call from Northern Saw-whet Owls, but a good listen to the Boreal call put me at ease - it was pretty distinctive. Less harsh, a little rounder. Cute.

Godman at top, Twin Buttes bottom right, Table Rock bottom left

I followed pretty good owling protocols. Stopping every 1/3 of a mile or so. Calling. Waiting. Calling. If I got no response from Boreal, I'd try other smaller owls (Northern Saw-whet and Northern Pygmy), then try a call or two for other larger owls (Great Horned, Long-eared, Barred, Great Gray), just depending on what the landscape seemed to warrant. 

It was absolutely beautiful, with a nearly full moon lighting up the landscape for me. It was nice being able to drive worry free in that regard. And the stops were fairly quiet with the occasional light breeze making noise in the trees. But it was not uncommon for me to be in dead quiet spots with ear "visibility" reaching pretty far out!

My first destination was Table Rock. I started down the road and did not get all that far...

A fallen tree across the road was not what I was hoping for here! Table Rock was by far the better chance for me to find Boreals - they'd been located here in recent years (and as of this writing, over a month later, they have now been found up there this year!), and it would have been a perfect night for it. But I made the 27-point turn on the narrow road and headed towards Twin Butte.

The road to Twin Butte provided some good owling, with at least two response skiews from Northern Saw-whet Owls, possibly a third, and a Barred Owl! 

And this is where I would ... look, I'm still not going to accept the secret handshake, but when it comes to owls, I don't do all that bad with finding my own birds. There are still species of owls I'm missing in the state, but over the years, I've come across Long-eared, Spotted, Barred, and Northern Saw-whets in situations where I'm not just following the sightings of others. 

And in the case of Barred up here in the Blues?? They're still listed as a Code 5. And I was able to find them twice during the year. Saw-whets... I whistle well for them, and maybe am just trying for them more often? It seems like in Eastern Washington, owling is just... go to the tree where you know there is a saw-whet roosting in winter... observe the Saw-whet... and be done with it. I may eventually grow out of this enjoyment of standing outside of my car on deserted roads at two in the morning, whistling softly for saw-whets in October? But that day does not feel close.

So, sure, if there are any birds where I find my own? It's a handful of owl species. How do I find them? Owling. But I'm still not qualified enough to learn the handshake for the Society of Talented Birders. :D That would require some demonstration of talent during daylight hours!

I got to the Twin Butte trailhead. Tired. I parked it and fell asleep once more, moonlight shining more and more into the car as the early hours passed. 

I got up a few hours later as it was just starting to gloam.

It was a beautiful morning that just continued all of the beauty from the day before, the night before. The zero new birds thing? Yes. That continued to be a thing. But it just couldn't ruin the morning. I even picked up Northern Pygmy-Owl at another stop. Not a new bird, but a fun find. Any owls are a fun find, yeah? 

And then grouse! 

This was by far my best view ever of Dusky Grouse in my life. And what equipment did I have on hand? Binoculars, a flip phone, and a view through a dusty windshield. I only decided to catch some video after several minutes of catching pictures with this set up. The bird was pretty happy to just poke around in the road for me. They're listed as a code 4 bird in the county, simply because they're not found every year, although this wasn't my first sighting of grouse up in the Blues this year. Nor my last!

After packing up at Godman, I started down Kendall Skyline Grove and came across another pair of Dusky Grouse. Tame as all get out. Right out in the road. 

AND... another woodpecker. I gave this one ten minutes in a tree right at the side of the road, then just took the L. 

Dayton

Breakfast was at Locally Nourished, naturally. I got the hash with some added sausage. I also picked up some local honey. 

Next door, I thought I'd try my luck on an important purchase - a Columbia County mug. The thrift store did not have one, but I was able to get the next best thing: 

Walla Walla County mug secured!

I may have tried for more birds in Dayton, and in Walla Walla County on the way out. Similar results!

The year tallies at the end remained the same: Columbia: 157; Walla Walla 149. I'd kinda hoped to pick up Boreal Owls as a new life bird. I'd kinda hoped to pick up one more Walla Walla County bird to close out that year list. But I struck out. 

This still stands as one of my favorite trips I had all year! What a beautiful trip, deeper into the Blue Mountains than I've been before.

A rare pic of the author - Godman CG
Photo credit: Flippy