February 14th - Valentines on the Columbia, in the Oxbows, and in the Palisades

Kitsch courtesy of the Cedars Inn, East Wenatchee

Late

I kind of pride myself in not needing an alarm. I'd still argue that I don't. The previous day had been a long one, and I hadn't gotten the best sleep in my car the night before. . . I may have told my internal clock that it was fine to sleep until I wasn't tired any more. That was some time after 6, at any rate. I once heard someone say "We are late to the places where we don't want to be." Something along those lines. I think it's an interesting lens on being late, although on this particular morning, it didn't apply at all. 

I was meeting Joe, a Chelan County birder, and the compiler for both Douglas and Chelan Counties. We had been in contact in advance of the year, and had decided to do some birding together during my trip out in February. Distanced, separate cars, etc etc. I picked up my breakfast bag (muffins, granola bar, banana, a bottle of water, and a cup of coffee), packed up and got out the door.\

Snow courtesy of Snowmageddon

Lincoln Rock State Park

 

I got to Lincoln Rock State Park, having texted Joe, but didn't see him right away. I got to thinking it might be similar to my first trip out here to look for an American Dipper - Not knowing where to look, and just missing out. I actually followed some prints from his car (the only one parked there, but the dog prints pulled the human prints around a little bit, and I got confused). Not too long after, I heard Joe call out a hello. I turned and got smacked by a cute puppy attack, which briefly removed my ability to think: 

Luna

Pardon me, but what a fricking cute dog. Luna was happy to zig and zag ahead of Joe throughout the trip, diving her nose into the snow occasionally, for reasons that would escape our best narration efforts, I'm sure. The morning wasn't all that windy, so it was just a nice day out for all three of us. 

The butt-end of an American Dipper

In keeping with the theme of forgettable pictures of birds - here ya go. I was pretty happy with how well the American Dipper (bird number 79* for the year list - the asterisk remaining until I get some feedback on the Wild Turkey sighting from the previous day) was showing up in the viewfinder, but. . . may have mistimed my clicks a little bit! This was a bird that I had missed in January, not really clear on where to look. This time around, it helped to have Joe there, who checked the three or so spots where it was frequently seen. We found it in the swim area, dipping on the rocks and then diving into the water to find. . . oh goodness, I hardly know what's alive and swimming around in the icy waters this time of year. But there's enough in there to feed an American Dipper, which is an interesting thought.

Squirrel!

Joe and Luna and I went on a nice long walk through the park. Slow walking was the theme for the day, and we picked up some birds along the way, despite the snow on the ground. At Lincoln Rock, we had Black-capped Chickadees, Varied Thrushes, Steller's Jays, Eurasian Collared-Doves, and another new year bird for me - Golden-crowned Kinglets (80*). Joe also recorded Cedar Waxwings here in his eBird list, but I missed them! They shouldn't be hard birds to find as things warm up, but the year has been thin on any kind of waxwings so far. 

Coyote Dunes

I had to see this place, if only because I had become so lost trying to find it in January. It's a little bit of a jog down to the river, but it turns out that this is part of the Apple Capital Loop Trail. Porter's Pond is the access point just South of this one, and it was a nice stop. There are plenty of bits of brush for sparrows, although today we only found Song Sparrows. Another nice feature of the site is a sweeping view of the Columbia. We looked at hundreds of Canada Geese sitting over on the Chelan side, and were thinking about leaving when a small group of Cackling Geese (81*) floated down into view on the Douglas side. 

Cackling Geese. . . I fully admitted to Joe before we found them that I am guilty, no... rather, my brain is guilty of wanting any kind of smaller Canada Goose to be a Cackling Goose. Just the previous day, I'd been pointing to some Canada Geese whose necks were skinnier than the other Canada Geese right next to them. . . this did not seem to sway Matt. It wouldn't have swayed me in the end either. Having other birders around me just meant that this dumb internal dialogue could become external dialogue.

These suckers, however, were bona fide Cacklers, looking more like Mallards until closely inspected. We talked in general about how the geese seemed to move back and forth across the Columbia a little, with groups of odd geese (Snow, and Greater White-fronted) showing up in identical numbers in Douglas and Chelan. While numbers were low in general at this time of year, it was clear that April would be a good time to try for the less common species. 

Rock Island Ponds - Bow Lake

Joe and I moved along to Bow Lake. He had mentioned walking trails there, and I had missed them on previous visits. The parking looked a little dicey, so we parked out on the street, and then proceeded to walk in the dicey-looking parking area. 

I've written a physics item or two over the years. So many of them start with "consider a frictionless surface", but it would seem that I had very little perspective on this until February 14th 2021. My boot went beneath the top layer of snow, and arrived on the smooth ice below it. And it just went forward. I'm sure that in a fraction of a second, our body has like... probably 11 tricks that it uses to regain traction in these situations. I went 0 for 11. 

My feet went right out from under me, and the rest of me did a little free fall to the ground - back... shoulders... head. I'll assume that the three step process slowed my head down enough on the way, because I'm here typing about it with perfect clarity and not a mote of a headache. I did sit up for a second or ten to talk to Joe and perform a quick systems check.

I had only brought my phone along for this walk, and it went flying into the snow nearby. . . a fact which escaped me until quite a bit later. This is why we're operating picture free for the moment. 

Once I was back up and walking, we poked our way through the trail - with just a few overhanging branches making it challenging at times. We came across quail in huge numbers, although Luna was still content to periodically dive her nose into the nearby snow. We also had Hermit Thrushes... at least two, and I'd guess as many as four. Finding one at Hideaway Lake the previous day was neat, and now it just showed to be a small piece of a larger pattern. 

A little bit farther, and we came across a couple more good birds - a Fox Sparrow, and an Anna's Hummingbird. Finally, to justify the trip, I picked up one more year bird, a surprisingly quiet Ruby-crowned Kinglet (82*). We turned back, said our goodbyes and started down the road when I remembered the missing phone. I went back to the scene of the accidental snow angel, and spotted the rectangular opening in the snow, finding the phone a few inches below. 

Phew.

Short as the morning was, it was great to spend it with someone knowledgeable on the habitat, and the birds (Joe also works for the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust), and who has the same bug for exploring, and finding new places. Some good bird will likely show up at one of the spots Joe brought be to this morning, and I'll be able to say, "Oh! I know that spot!".

Palisades Road

I had to look up the term. Palisades are rows of spears, or poles, erected for defense. They're also used for steep cliffs, especially when they enclose a valley. This all fits the feel of the valley, carved out by the Missoula floods. 

Palisades Road

This road was mentioned in "A Birder's Guide to Washington", the book that really set me off on discovering birding spots throughout the state. Until as recently as the 80s, trains ran through here, and the road continued through to Douglas Creek. The road is still there... but not in any really usable form. I have read accounts from hikers, bikers, etc, who have noted that it remains essentially unusable. Could someone with four-wheel drive and buckets of optimism make their way through? Who knows?

Bird-wise, I was scanning the cliffs for Prairie Falcons, the fields for pheasants or partridge, and the brush for sparrow patches. Whenever I got out of the car, I'd also listen for Canyon Wrens. It was a pretty quiet drive, however, with occasional excitement from sparrow flocks (all White-crowned and Song), or a passing raptor (Red-tailed, and one male Northern Harrier). 

I eventually got to what I thought was the end of the road. At Billingsley Ranch, the road looked like it was about to dead end. It felt a bit like I was in a driveway, more than on a road, and I just didn't go up far enough to see the road bend ahead. I called a day, called it a trip, really, and turned around. It was fun the next day to do a search and find this video which continues the drive almost exactly from where I stopped. How much farther will I make it down that road?? 

Additionally, the Douglas County PUD had a little bit about the history of the town of Palisades here. 

Content, I left the county through Quincy, and survived one more trip over an icy pass, returning home thankful.