Tuesday

It was gorgeous sunny weather so we decided it would be a good day to visit Mt. St. Helens. Daniel volunteered to come, and we headed out at about 8:00 for the monument, taking I5 up to the Castle Rock exit toward Johnston Ridge and Coldwater Ridge. We arrived at Johnston ridge about mid-morning.


The Mountain from Johnston Ridge


Toutle River Valley
I hadn’t been there for years, and since it was such a barren wasteland it didn’t look too promising for birdlife, but the beautiful wilderness environment more than made up for that.


Though the views of the Mountain were great, the wind was really powerful, and carried particles of ash and dust that would be sure to scratch lenses and make photography difficult (as you can see in the following photo :).


So we walked around inside the visitor center for a little while, examining the seismographs, photos and stories of the eruption. Adam said that when he used to work in a cave in MO, they had a seismograph which could pick up activity from all around the world. Sometimes they would see indications of an earthquake or eruption and several hours later the news would confirm an event at the time the machine recorded it.

The wind died down a bit and allowed us to get some neat shots before we left for Coldwater Ridge. On the way back down through the hills we spotted a hawk flying overhead. In typical birder form, Adam found the nearest pulloff--on the other side of the road--and swerved in there. The bird turned out to be just a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, so we kept going. We stopped at the short “Birth of a Lake” boardwalk trail on Coldwater Lake, where we got some neat photos of the lake, and saw a few Yellow Warblers and Willow Flycatchers.





Coldwater Lake from the "Birth of a Lake" trail
As we were eating lunch at the trailhead, the resident ground squirrel came for handouts--there was a $250 fine for feeding the animals so I shot him instead!


Then we were feeling adventurous enough to attempt the Hummocks Trail (named for the ubiquitous rounded mounds that are found in the valley), a 2.5 mile loop through some of the most amazing terrain around the mountain in the Toutle River valley. There weren’t too many birds, but the scenery was even more magnificent than the route description promised, so we really enjoyed that hike.









Scenery from the Hummocks Trail
I kept imagining how much fun it would be to kayak down the Toutle River, but I don't even own a kayak, and they might not allow it. Too bad.

We then visited the Coldwater Ridge visitor center, which was really nice and tourist-friendly (without the wind!), offering great looks at the lake down below and the mountain.





Me at Coldwater Ridge (photos by Adam Nisbett)


View from the Coldwater Lake Visitor Center
Though the birdlife was pretty subdued, the mountain was spectacular as always. It really is a national monument to Creation.

All photos © Benjamin Berkompas 2007 (unless otherwise indicated), taken at Mt. St. Helens National Monument WA

Monday

Jonathan had Memorial Day off, so he had been planning on going to the beach with Chelsea. Naturally, Adam and I were more than happy to go along, so at about 8:00 in the morning we departed for Long Beach located at the mouth of the Columbia river. Our route actually took us into OR first, then we crossed a really long, low bridge over the river to WA; we saw several Bald Eagles perched on posts in the middle of the river right by the bridge. I had never been to Long Beach, and it was very pretty, offering neat views of the North Head Lighthouse on Cape Disappointment in the distance.


There were a lot of gulls--mostly Western and Ring-billed--and crows, but the highlights were the rafts of alcids or sea ducks way out on the ocean, the Brown Pelicans gliding past over the surf, a flock of Sanderlings, and a lone male Red-necked Phalarope.


American Crow
The Sanderlings weren’t very cooperative subjects as they kept lifting off and touching down farther down the shoreline, but eventually they got close enough to where we could easily watch their antics through Adam’s scope, and get a few neat photos of the flock in flight. It was amazing how coordinated they were. The whole flock seemed to move as a single entity, and a few of my photos showcase that really well. We watched them swing way out over the surf, then circle back, land, and scurry around in the mud looking for food as the waves receded.



Sanderlings

A grassy slope ran all the way along the beach, in which we could always hear and see Savannah Sparrows singing. Adam and I wandered up there to get some shots, and while we were examining a Gray Whale skeleton exhibit, we chatted about how neat it would be if a sparrow flew onto a nearby rock. A moment later and beautiful little SAVS obliged and perched on a sweet lichen-covered boulder to sing, while we slowly raised our cameras and started snapping pictures. The lighting was great because, even though we were shooting around midday, it was slightly overcast.



Savannah Sparrow
Adam wasn’t using a tripod or monopod, so he got a few shots from a lower angle than I did, including some ocean blue in the BG--that made me kind of envious, but oh well. Jonathan and Chelsea wanted their picture taken, so that done we had lunch and headed south to Cape Disappointment.




White-crowned Sparrow
We made the brief hike up to the North Head Lighthouse, and saw a Swainson’s Thrush and my first Orange-crowned Warbler.



North Head Lighthouse
The lighthouse and view was beautiful, but so was the vantage point. From the top of the cliff we were able to spot several Pigeon Guillemots out of the surf with Adam’s scope, as well as tons of Pelagic Cormorants nesting on the surrounding cliffs.



Pelagic Cormorants
I got one photo of a distant Pigeon Guillemot flying against some neat foaming waves which might make a good painting.


Pigeon Guillemot
Again, we saw some distant alcids or ducks but we couldn’t identify them.


Adam

Me (photo by Adam Nisbett)
After that, Adam and I left to catch up with Jonathan and Chelsea who said they would be at the gift shop. When we got there they had already left, so we talked to the lady at the counter for a little while, and answered a few questions like, “Are you professional photographers?” Oh ya, totally... :) As we left she told us that there were a few deer nearby, and we got to see a pair on the way back to the car.


Columbian White-tailed Deer
Jonathan then drove us to another nearby lighthouse, which we hiked up to, passing Dead Man’s Cove (which prompted quite a few jokes) and a spooky little concrete structure that looked like a tomb. This lighthouse was beautiful as well, offering more views of the nesting Cormorants and a huge flock of them on the water along with tons of Caspian Terns and a few gulls.






Finally, we spent some time down on Wakiki beach (I know, it sounds Hawaiian) photographing Terns in flight against the blue sky and cliff face. Though there were a lot of birds and they got fairly close, I’m still an amateur at flight photography and really struggled to get any keepers, though that experience certainly improved my technique.




Caspian Terns
We tried climbing along the rocky dike to look for turnstones and other things, but they weren’t around and it got pretty treacherous. I got some great looks at a small group of Surf Scoters that paddled into the cove--one of my favorite sea ducks! Before we left, I couldn’t resist setting down my gear and splashing around in the waves for a few minutes. I kept wondering, “Why did I wear jeans today?...”


Big thanks to Jonathan and Chelsea who put up with two “crazy birders” for a day. Jonathan had some rather unusual sightings, like the Red-bellied, Blue-backed Kites that hovered over the beach, and apparently a Bird of Paradise too... :) Hmmm, weird...



All photos © Benjamin Berkompas (unless otherwise indicated), taken at Long Beach & Cape Disappointment WA

Sunday

(See my previous post for a quick introduction to this series)

Adam arrived at about 2:00 on Saturday afternoon, so there wasn't time to do much until Sunday afternoon. Following Mom's suggestion we visited Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, where I enjoy shooting ducks year round :) It is a 15,000+ acre refuge which hosts a wide variety of birds, including one of the only known nesting colonies of Yellow-headed Blackbirds west of the Cascades in WA. Zach and Matthew tagged along.

The refuge has a convenient 4.5 mile auto-loop for birders and nature photographers, but before we got on that Adam and I stopped before the railroad tracks to listen for Bullock's Orioles. There was no sign of them so we continued on. The younger boys got their first looks at a beautiful little Savannah Sparrow singing from the top of a small sign near the entrance kiosk, and after that we enjoyed great views of several male Cinnamon Teal swimming in the ponds and ditches along both sides of the road.


Cinnamon Teal
Tree, Barn and Northern Rough-winged Swallows, along with a few Vaux's Swifts cruised over the cattails in which we saw a male Yellow-headed Blackbird chattering. Those birds sound bizarre! A huge flock of American Goldfinches was feasting on the thistle across the slough, more than I'd ever seen at one time. Adam spotted a lone American Bittern flying low over the marsh in the distance, and we saw a few Greater White-fronted Geese feeding in the reeds. Several Common Yellowthroats and Yellow Warblers later we arrived at the observation blind located on Rest Lake, where we observed a family of Mallards, more Cinnamon Teal (they were everywhere) Ring-necked Ducks, Ruddy Ducks, American Coots with chicks (UGLY!!), my first Redhead, and a pair of Barn Swallow that posed for photos close to the blind.


Barn Swallows


Mallards
Adam helped me identify several Marsh Wrens concealed in the reeds. We were just leaving the blind's parking lot when we noticed a berry bush being attacked by several Cedar Waxwings.


Cedar Waxwing
The lighting wasn't too good for photos, but they were neat to watch, and things got even better when a male Western Tanager flew in to grab some lunch. It was cool that he matched the color of the berries so well.


Western Tanager
Normally the hawks and harriers would be quite active in the surrounding fields and woodlands, but I guess they're too busy nesting this time of year, so we continued on to hike the 1.5 mile Kiwa Trail that loops through several acres of wetlands near the hunting area. Zach insisted on bringing Adam's 80mm spotting scope, so we just let him lug it along. We were already burdened with all our camera gear. The trail wasn't too exciting, but we heard lots of Sora, Pie-Billed Grebes, American Bitterns (whose strange "gugulumping" sounds kinda' like a 2-liter bottle being emptied), saw more Cinnamon Teal, a few Wood Ducks and a Pileated Woodpecker. The fields along the home stretch back to the entrance were pretty much deserted, save for a few Savannah Sparrows which posed in the beautiful evening light.


Savannah Sparrow
Zach and Matthew had a fun time, even though they wouldn't be convinced to stay inside the truck as we drove. I guess they thought they would have a better view if they hung out the windows and held on to the roof! But it was pretty much their first time birding so we gave them some grace.



All photos © Benjamin Berkompas, taken at Ridgefield NWR, 2007

I can hear everyone asking...

..."Where are you?" This past week was really busy, but apart from that I really don't have any excuses so I won't even try. Actually last week we had the pleasure of entertaining Adam Nisbett, a fellow Christian homeschooler--and birder--who I began corresponding with over email about a year ago. It was great to finally meet him, and boy did we have a fun time! Adam lives in a famly of 10 kids in Missouri, won the Federal Junior Duck Stamp art contest in 2003 (which is my goal as you may know from reading my art blog), and the Young Birder of the Year contest in 2005 (I placed 2nd last year), he enjoys photography, painting, drawing, birding, and graphic design. It's no wonder I was thrilled to have him come up here for a week! We visited Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge a few times, Long Beach and Cape Disappointment on the WA coast, the Ellensburg/Yakima area, and Mt. St. Helens all in one week, each taking hundreds of photos (I kept about 900) and finding quite a few new birds. Rather than trying to pack everything into one post, I'm just going to briefly cover our activities day by day. Enjoy.