June 6th - Big Bend Wildlife Area

Civil Twilight

I had gone to sleep on top of my sleeping bag... then just draped it over myself... but by morning, I was deeply tucked into it, a little surprised at how much heat had left the air during a clear June night. The previous evening had been a little windy, tossing the sides of the tent inward and outward at odd intervals, but it was generally calm and comfy inside. 

I'd walked this trail from China Creek Road, getting most of the way towards Black Lake

I had backpacked about a mile or so into the Big Bend Wildlife Area, nabbing a flat enough grassy spot along the trail to set up my tent. I had also gone to bed pretty darn early after a very long day that had started at 4 AM. 

This made it a little easier to stomach the morning chorus. at 3:30. 

First of all, understand that the night had been generally silent... except for one insomnia-ridden Yellow-breasted Chat, intent on pulling an all-nighter. A Great Horned Owl pair sang for a short bit, rousing me from sleep briefly. Once the chorus got going, however, it got very busy. 

Campground backdrop

Common Nighthawk (182 for the year) was one of the first birds of interest, surprisingly, I also got Red Crossbills passing in a flock some time around 4. I knew I was in for a lot of birds, but maybe not quite so early! The spot itself was situated in a creek valley with talus on one side, and basalt cliffs on the other. The creek was lined with thick deciduous trees and shrubs, and backed by conifers. I don't often just focus on rattling through bird after bird, but this spot warranted it. 

Chukars and Rock Wrens both called from the talus north of my campsite, and Prairie Falcons called from above the valley, likely nesting in the cliffs. The trees and shrubs near the site had American Robin, House Wren, Warbling Vireo, Western Wood-Pewee, Cedar Waxwing, Bullock's Oriole, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, American Goldfinch, Lazuli Bunting, Black-headed Grosbeak, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, and Mourning Dove. The conifers deeper back had Black-capped Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco, Western Tanager, Downy Woodpecker, and Northern Flicker. 

As it became light, I was able to add some swallows (Violet-green, and Cliff), Common Raven, California Quail, and Say's Phoebe. Finally I started following tapping noises, and kept trying in vain to locate woodpeckers. I tried heading up the hill to the North, and came across Wax Currants, and plenty of flowers - all good food for grouse. But what kind?

Here's where I have to fill you in a little more on the planning for this trip. 

All of these other species and possibilities were the big draw for me, but once I found the name of this place - Big Bend Wildlife Area - I poked around a little more. Little did I know that it was largely set up as a refuge for Sharp-tailed Grouse! Sharp-tailed Grouse are a species that numbers in the hundreds in the state. The fires back on Labor Day in 2020 took out the most reliable habitat they had, I believe in the state. These ran up from Bridgeport towards West Foster Creek, which has been a wintering spot for the Dyer Hill population of birds. 

Range map from www.birdweb.org, showing the Douglas County populations

I had kind of given up on seeing any of these birds for the year - a shame as it would have been a new bird for me in the state. But then I found out about this population! So I wanted to figure out how to find STGR (if I may abbreviate Sharp-tailed Grouse). 

So I did some research, and by the end of it can say that I feel like I know more about how to look for STGR than nearly any bird I know. Where did I go for this information?? Hunting videos on YouTube! It really had not sunk in that hunters might know a bazillion times more about finding birds than many of us birders, but it does make some sense! I watched a whole video on where to find them - here's what I learned: 

1. Not exactly flat landscapes. If you are walking through a field, and don't feel particularly winded from the ups and downs, it might not be an interesting place for a STGR.
2. Water nearby. This is almost all birds, right?
3. Early season - flowers and berries; Late season - grasshoppers. 
4. Tall groundcover, but not TALL groundcover. If it is so short that you don't even have to think about where you're walking, it's not great. If it's so tall that you'd expect a pheasant to flush out of it, it's also not great. 
5. Cover - trees, tall shrubs
6. Diversity - If you can see from a distance that it's a patchwork of colors, you might be on to something

I. Loved. This. In the video, they really got into the life history of Sharp-tailed Grouse, and I felt like I was armed with the information I needed. I was now a habitat connoisseur as I walked the area around my campsite. They had also talked about Dusky Grouse, and I honestly expected to find them as I went up the hill a little ways. There were some steeper slopes, and lots of berries to eat. But that wasn't the grouse I had either! 

Campsite from above, facing South

Ruffed Grouse - a code 4 bird that I'd had earlier in the year. This one is actually pretty interesting, because as a code 4, it means that it's not reported annually, but I'm getting the sense that they are just plain old present in the county, but too skulky to be seen every year. I tried to figure out where the drumming was coming from, but to no avail. 

Woodpecker snag

Behind me, another nice surprise popped up - a Lewis's Woodpecker! I thought this might have been the unfamiliar drumming sound I'd heard earlier, so I gave up on my woodpecker hunt and decided to take care of breakfast and breaking camp. 

Ruffed Grouse - second location

Coffee, oatmeal, and then packing it up. As I rolled up the rainfly for the tent, I was surprised to find my fingers getting pretty chilled. I looked carefully... frost! Not what I'd expected in June in the Columbia Basin, but there ya go. I was not completely surprised to find that I was able to pack things more compactly on my way out. I don't know that this is going to lead me down the path of ultra-lightweight backpacking! But it did pique my curiosity.

On the way back, the most interesting bird that I came across was *another* Ruffed Grouse, drumming from the creekside growth. I'm telling you... there may actually be a few of these birds out there.

I have to say, there was some simple relief in seeing my car still intact. I'd had a break-in recently and lost a window, so any time I come back to my car now, I'm a little more thankful. 

Sunlight reflecting off of Rock Lake

My original intent had been to hike further into the wildlife area from my campsite, but the gating had deterred me, so I decided to drive up from the China Creek entrance to the Rock Lake entrance. I had been here back in May, and had just walked up to the lake itself and birded from there. This time I wanted to get in as far as I could. I knew the original goal of hiking it to the Columbia might not work, but this area had to be explored. 

Oh my. I found this whole landscape to be stunning. Different stretches definitely had a different feel. Early on, it's open to grazing, but I did happen across a gate that was more clearly openable. From here, I just walked and enjoyed. I decided not to really stop too long anywhere to check out habitat - wanting to cover as much distance as I could. 

Landscapes - Big Bend Wildlife Area

Prairie Falcon vs. Red-tailed Hawk

Wildflowers were dotted around, and the contour of the landscape was about what I had expected to be good for Sharp-tailed Grouse. It was just so much of it! I kept walking and gradually got closer to School Creek, which runs from this area down to the Columbia. I finally got to an area that had some Wax Currants, and thought it might be improving for grouse, when I heard one. Dusky Grouse! (183) It boomed slowly from cover, and... based on what I'd watched... it seemed like a good place for them to be - plenty of cover, starting to get into some steeper slopes, and lots of food.

The next new bird of the year came as I more properly got into the descent, and the thicker vegetation along the creek. An Orange-crowned Warbler (184) sang for me. This was one of the birds that I thought would be gone from Douglas after migration finished. That said, the breeding habitat comes from the Okanogan right up to the border with Douglas, so I thought there might be a chance to find these little dudes. 

Then things became coniferous for a little stretch, and the birds shifted too - singing Hermit Thrush was the most exciting for me. Took me a second to figure out why the Swainson's Thrush was singing so strangely! Hammond's Flycatcher (185) was another new bird for the year as well - one that I figured, like Orange-crowned Warbler, that I had missed for the year.

Rock Wren

To the left as I continued down the slope there was a rocky outcrop with a Rock Wren singing in plain view. This one had only been heard previously in the year, so this was a treat. I thought I was gated out again, so I figured I may as well take it to the end of the line - this got me a Black-chinned Hummingbird (186), which came in for a drink out of a thistle, and also got me a closer look at the gate, which I was again able to open!

Lower Stretch of the trail - good grouse habitat

Large unidentified Beetle

It would appear that the gates here are just intended to be as cattle-proof as possible to protect the habitat, but it was just exciting to get out of the trees and into the next batch of hilly grassland habitat. From here, the habitat looked, to me, perfect for Sharp-tailed. I walked off-trail a little bit, getting closer looks at flowers and berries. Grasshopper Sparrows were plentiful in this little area. I did have some birds flush, but the orange, rounded tails quickly told me that they were Gray Partridge, rather than any kind of grouse. 

A lake down at the bottom of the hill had a few ducks in it, the most surprising being an American Wigeon. I didn't realize that any stayed around for breeding, but it would seem from some research that they do use the Okanogan in summer months. 

I was, at this point, a mile and a half to two miles from my car, and there were clouds in the sky. It had been a perfectly comfortable walk, but I wasn't 100 percent sure that would continue. I looked down the trail at the gap where it would descend down to the Columbia. Not this time. I also knew that the trail looped around to Black Lake - my original backpacking destination, and an area where I suspected there might be some great Sharp-tailed habitat. But caution seemed like the best plan at this point, so I turned back and tromped up the trail to my car. 

I've got to head back. Given the cool birds that showed up here, and how much of the area was left unexplored, I absolutely need to go back. This was undoubtedly the most unexpected and amazing area that I have visited during the year. 

You may need to go there too! Do you have thoughts of seeing Sharp-tailed Grouse in Washington? Get out there now, and look for flowers. Get out there in a couple months and look for grasshoppers. Now, it's not going to be Tour Bus Grouse, perhaps. It may even be that you don't end up seeing them - I didn't. But for me, the idea of seeing them out in *habitat* rather than just stuck in a survivable spot in a tree for the winter actually adds to the interest. 

I also think that some other birds are going to pop up in this area, perhaps regularly, once people start exploring here. 

Wrapping it up

Once I was back at my car, I just got it in my head that going to enough little puddles in the Northern part of the county would eventually give me an American Avocet, a Sora, a Black-crowned Night-Heron, a Black Tern, or far more likely: all of the above. I had mostly expected birds, however, with the possible exception of a Common Yellowthroat at Hayes Road Pond off of Highway 17.

Northern Harrier

One little side trip did prove to be productive, although it had nothing to do with any of those birds listed. At some point I had looked at the roads North of 17 and 174. There's a similarly unexplored area there, and I was running off to look at a couple more ponds, when I found some birds I'd missed all year: Loggerhead Shrike (187). 

I swear I've been in Douglas County, and even been in and around a little sagebrush - really! But somehow I've missed this bird at every turn. The two I found weren't particularly shy - perching up on wires and posts and sagebrush. 

July

It's at least interesting to look ahead to July and see... what birds are on the horizon? Which ones may slip away? Using eBird, you can actually choose a location (Douglas), a list (year list), and a time period (July), and it will tell you what birds have been sighted more frequently during the time  - ones that you do not presently have on your list of interest. So here's my July, the top 20 at least:

Wow... 12 of these are shorebirds. Rufous Hummingbird I can wrap my brain around - that should be a feeder bird somewhere? Red-naped Sapsucker was on my radar, although that is pretty far down the list! Some of the other water birds (Sora, Black-crowned Night Heron) also seem to show up at places that are good for shorebirds, but those places were pretty dry in June! That leaves some Columbia birds (Bonaparte's Gull and American White Pelican), and perhaps some sage birds (Sage-Grouse and Short-eared Owl). 

I honestly still would have Sharp-tailed Grouse on my list. It's not even on this list, which goes down 11 more entries, and includes 4 more shorebirds, and a couple flycatchers. Barn Owl too... there are Barn Owls in the county. I really believe this. We shall see! 

Rare Selfie