May 6th - County Hug

Mountain Bluebird - one of many seen around Bickleton

Quality Inn - Goldendale. Until their kitchen opens, we get inspiration

Okay, full disclosure. I birded some on Thursday, May 5th. It was late afternoon birding, so does that really count? Spending an hour wandering around Brooks Memorial State Park, listening to the wind, some Red Crossbills, and a few nuthatches. . . it just didn't feel post-worthy. Taking Box Canyon Road, a road I'd never driven before, as far as it would take me before the mud turned me around? Not interesting at all. Passing the "F^#k Jo and the Ho" sign on Box Canyon Road. . . as much as I like to dive into a county and try to understand the residents better, I gave this a pass. 

Lies, obviously. I just talked about all of it. As unsatisfying as that late afternoon foray was bird-wise, it still is a lot of the reason I come out. Exploring, trying to understand, and honestly a little bit of disappointment. You need some of it. If I go to a different place and find a lot of birds, it will mean more. If I go back down the same road at a different time of day, a different time of year, and find a lot of birds, it will mean more. 

That said, this is what "Where are all of the birds?" looks like: 

A hotel in Goldendale, eBird, and some time to scribble helped me as I sorted through the answer to that question. I was at the Quality Inn. As an editor, I sometimes want to press (Do you mean "high-quality?" because when we say "Dave is a quality guy." for example, it doesn't really specify whether he falls on the high- or low-quality end of things. . . ), but thankfully I. . . well, I have some filters in place!

I love the hotel, anyway. Their hot breakfast is not yet available. Kitchen is still closed post-COVID, so they give out a breakfast-ish/lunch-ish/snack-ish offering in white bags festooned with words of encouragement. I got "Make it happen" today. Challenge: accepted.

Map of Klickitat County. . . I wish I'd seen that it was "updated in 1977"

Meadowlarks!

I'll just get that out of the way. I had Western Meadowlarks from the moment I opened the door, and then at nearly every moment for the rest of the trip. So many meadowlarks. My first destination was Bickleton. I loaded up on coffee and hit the road. This is one of those odd situations where you don't just cross the highway. The Bickleton Highway is an overpass from Goldendale, so I had to make a U-turn here or there to get on it. 

It turned into nice habitat pretty quickly. I was interested in a day list, so things like Common Ravens, House Finches, and American Robins were instantly interesting. The landscape changed fairly frequently, so I got a nice mix as I drove. A little patch of Ponderosa Pines gave me my first Chipping Sparrows (108 for the yearlist); A little patch of farmland gave me my first Mourning Doves (109).

Western Bluebirds did become more frequent as I got closer to Bickleton, the bluebird capital!

And another nice surprise (as well as a pretty easy identification!) was a Great Egret (110) standing in a field. 

Various stops gave me looks and listens of new birds constantly, including House Wren (111), Cassin's Vireo (112), Brown-Headed Cowbird (113), both Orange-crowned (114), and Nashville (115) warblers, Western Wood-Pewee (116), and Western Kingbird (117).

Western Kingbird

The road dips down to intersect with Rock Creek Road. What a neat little intersection! From the high plains on either side, it really is a pretty deep cut. Hammond's Flycatcher (118) was found here in the thick evergreens lining the rapid creek. Lazuli Bunting (119) and Vaux's Swift (120) were two other new birds found in this little stretch. 

On the way back up and towards Bickleton, it started to get thicker with bluebirds, both Western and Mountain. A Townsend's Solitaire (121) on a low fence post provided another nice surprise. Across the road from the solitaire, there were a couple of Vesper's Sparrows (122) singing from the field. 

I decided against zooming in on this Vesper Sparrow. Enjoy the spring flowers!

Looking North from Northeast Klickitat

There were sprinkles during the morning, and often views of heavier showers on distant fields. Some of the last year birds before I got to Bickleton included Dusky Flycatcher (123), Yellow Warbler (124), and Gray Flycatcher (125), heard giving its call over and over in the distance in the scene above. 

Bickleton

I have to go back to Bickleton. In part, it's a mug thing. I took a mug from the Market Street Cafe, with the understanding that I would bring two mugs back. Never mind that this is a town that is 4 hours or more away from home. Small price for the perfect mug.

Someday. Someday I'll have one from every county and have them mounted up on a state map. Jigsaw pieces with wood for each county, and a hook to hold each of the 39 mugs. A boy can dream. 

There was a lot of "Can I help you?" in the cafe. Not the kind that you sometimes hear directed from a clerk to a suspicious person in a store. There were people from staff to locals who just seemed bent on making my stop in Bickleton a pleasant one. In addition to the mug, I had folks grabbing me silver, filling my coffee, and providing me with a bluebird map for the area. 

"Best food in town" I was told and had no reason to doubt them (although I do hope to stop at the Bluebird Inn next time I come through!). I had a chance to listen to the locals talking about the rain. "Sounds like it'll be a 5-million-dollar rain, not just a million." I overheard. (I had to check. It's a thing.)

A town that embraces its visitability

This blew my mind a little bit! I guess heavy rains in early May aren't a given and can have a massive effect on the costs for farmers. There was definitely a little bit of bubbly excitement, as well as some chuckling at the poor souls who had not yet finished planting!

I left, mug in hand, with my camera battery newly charged up. I took a look down the block at the historical museum, which included a carousel exhibit I've visited once before. It didn't take me quite so much by surprise this time, but I did make sure to peek down the road and make sure it was still there. 

Gosh The Boy had loved carousels. 

Sand Ridge Road

I continued my "hug" of the county by hitting nearly the northeastern most point in the county, finding Sand Ridge Road. This was where I had hoped to find some species that particularly enjoy sagebrush, most of which were highly coded birds (code 3, and code 4). Success! Brewer's Sparrow (126), Loggerhead Shrike (127), and Sagebrush Sparrow (128) were all found at various points along the road. I did strike out on Sage Thrasher, but hey. . . I'll be back. 

Can you find the Loggerhead Shrike?

 

A little help!

This is just one of several areas in Klickitat that has gotten more coverage from birders in recent years, so the codes on some of these birds will change from 4 (seen less than annually) to 3 (seen annually). It added a nice bit of variety for me after a morning of riparian and farm-field birding. Horned Larks and Western Meadowlarks were also pretty easy to find during this stretch. 

Sagebrush Sparrow

I continued down Sand Ridge Road and hit a few other stops on the way towards the Columbia, including a stroll up Alder Creek Road (which advertised itself as sketchy when wet), and Six Prong Road. New birds kept coming! Cliff Swallow (129), Rock Wren (130), and Lark Sparrow (131) kept the year list rising through the morning. 

Lark Sparrow perched on a fence under cloudy skies

I kept looking for Sage Thrasher all along Six Prong Road, which seemed to have plenty of sagebrush, but eventually gave up on it and descended to the Columbia on Roosevelt Grade Road. A pullout early on gave me my first Cedar Waxwings (132) of the year. 

Rock Creek Road

I had passed this road on its other end, but now caught it on the end near the Columbia. I'd been down this road a decade earlier in the middle of a week-long trip around the state, but today I just wanted a peek at the water near the slow-moving end of the creek. While I was hoping for some new ducks, all of the ducks I found were previously seen during the year - Common and Hooded Merganser, Mallards, and American Wigeon. 

An Osprey (133) on the other hand was new, as was a white blob sitting in the middle of the creek.

I stared at it for a good bit before it finally popped its head up for a second, revealing from its bill that it was an American White Pelican (134). Not a complete surprise, but this was a bird where I wasn't 100 percent sure where I'd find one. I tried for Sora and Virginia Rail and scanned the reeds one more time for Wood Ducks before continuing down the road. 

Hard to tell, but this is a Pelican

There were more stops along the Columbia: Rock Pigeon (135) flying along the Columbia in the wake of a train at Horsethief Lake. Western Tanager (136), on Lyle-Snowden Road, White-throated Swift (137) at Coyote Wall Trailhead - a tough bird for the county, but a reliable nester here. 

Cliffs that held White-throated Swifts - Coyote Wall Trail

At this point, I beelined for food at a familiar destination: Everybody's Brewing in White Salmon. I was in need of some computer time! Time spent freelance writing over time had turned into freelance reviewing and editing. I'd now landed a new position with a company. Leading projects now included all of the same work from before, along with new non-writery things. This trip to Klickitat had been planned out months before and happened to intersect with some busy new steps in training. 

Everybody's Brewing - White Salmon

Texts from my friend Kevin let me know that he would be arriving later in the evening to Trout Lake - our lodging for the night. Once I'd cleared out emails, I decided it was time to head North - finishing this big loop around the county. I made a quick stop in White Salmon at a feeder that had gotten visits from Band-tailed Pigeons. They were unavailable during my stop, but I did come across a Black-headed Grosbeak (138), as well as the owner of the feeders! Brief as it was, it's always nice to meet the birders in the counties I visit!

Up the road I went, arriving at the cabins in daylight, but letting my head hit the pillow hard for the night.