July 26 - August 8, 2006

• Late July through August is the best opportunity to view whitetail deer bucks in northeast Washington. Bucks are now feeding in alfalfa fields and clear-cuts in the evening throughout the district. 

• Moose, common loons, bald eagles and more are readily seen around Big Meadow Lake between Aladdin and Huckleberry mountains, west of Ione.

• The Columbia River's Wells dam pool south of Pateros offers "pretty good viewing for a variety of ducks and geese, herons, common loons, bald eagles, ospreys and white pelicans," "The best loon viewing is in the Wells Dam forebay where loons can be seen feeding and occasionally heard calling,"  "The best location for white pelicans is above the Okanogan River confluence. The other species can be seen throughout the area."

• "Look for elk south of Highway 2, especially toward the Colockum Wildlife Area,"

• Hart's Pass-Slate Peak area northwest of Mazama is one of the most accessible alpine areas in the state."  "The wildflower show there now supports a tremendous variety of butterfly species. In fact, Okanogan County supports the state's greatest butterfly diversity. The only Washington records for two alpine species are on Slate Peak." Fitkin also suggested watching for other alpine residents, like ptarmigan, hoary marmots and pikas.

• Fitkin noted that two of the state's three common loon chicks produced this year are in the Okanogan district. One chick is on Lost Lake in eastern Okanogan County and another is on Blue Lake on the Sinlahekin Wildlife Area. Fitkin says both adults and chicks are readily observable this time of year.

July 27 - August 9, 2005

• An estimated three dozen rhinoceros auklets were spotted feeding in the nearshore area off West Point in Puget Sound, according to a correspondent for the Tweeters birding network. Washington state boasts roughly 90 percent of the U.S. population of rhino auklets outside of Alaska. This stout bird can be identified in the summertime by a bright orange bill and white feather tufts on each side of its head. 

• Purple martins are busy raising their young in nesting boxes that have been placed on pilings throughout the region's nearshore marine areas, including West Point, Edmonds and along Orcas and Lopez islands in the San Juans.

• One birder spotted more than a thousand Caspian terns, along with two black oystercatchers, on the south side of Dungeness Spit.

• But the goat population in the Goat Rocks Wilderness - estimated at 327 animals - appears to be on the rebound.  Popular places to see the goats include the Goat Lake area, Tieton Peak, Gilbert Peak and Cispus Pass.  Surveys conducted this year recorded 36 kids per 100 goats in the area - a much higher ratio than in recent years. "The mild winter and wet spring undoubtedly helped," WDFW research scientist Cliff Rice said. "We even identified some twins, which is pretty rare in an established population."  Rice noted that goat populations statewide have declined sharply in recent years, due in large part to the continual loss of alpine meadows through forest practices and other human activities.

• It's huckleberry-picking time in northeast Washington, and such outings almost always include wildlife-viewing opportunities. On the way up to the mountains, watch for osprey fledglings around nests along the shorelines of rivers and lakes. Young of the year of many species are highly visible now, from deer fawns to quail chicks. 

• Try a trip to WDFW's 14,000-acre Sinlahekin Wildlife Area, located about two hours from Wenatchee in northern Okanogan County.   "Most visitors at this time of year are going to see white-tailed and mule deer and bighorn sheep," said WDFW area manager Dale Swedberg, "but during early morning and late evening, you might also catch a glimpse of moose, black bear, cougar, bobcat and coyote."  The Sinlahekin's bird list alone includes 244 species, from common loons on the lakes to red crossbills in the woods. There are also 61 species of mammals, 20 species of reptiles and amphibians, 100 species of butterflies, and lots of camping areas.

July 25 - August 8, 2001  (nothing new)

July 26 - August 9, 2000   (nothing new)

July 29 - August 11, 1999

• The wildflower show is spectacular in some alpine areas with monkeyflowers, penstemmons, pearly everlasting, yarrow, larkspur, lupines and a host of others. Take a field guide along to figure them out. And watch for the wildlife that uses them as a food source: marmots, pikas, gray-crowned rosy finches, hummingbirds, and butterflies. In the latter category, watch for orange and black fritillaries and aptly named checkerspots, which are black with squares of red or yellow. WDFW wildlife biologist David Hays recommends butterfly watching on south-facing alpine slopes, which are more likely to be snow-free than north-facing elevations.

August 9-22, 2006

• On a drive up the Columbia Gorge, a contributor to the Tweeters birding website (http://www.scn.org/earth/tweeters/digests/) watched two osprey harry a red-tailed hawk as Cliff swallows screamed from their colony on a nearby cliff. She also spotted two Lewis's woodpeckers on a snag along the north shore of Rowland Lake and a flock of wild turkeys - including three hens and seven chicks - in a clearing just past the Lyle-Balch cemetery. The writer and her kids also spotted up to 20 turkey vultures on their drive to the fish ladder at Bonneville Dam.

August 10-23, 2005

• Birders  recently visited Ocean Shores and neighboring areas, and tallied an astonishing number of birds, including an estimated 850 rhinoceros auklets, 1,800 brown pelicans, 1,800 aptly named common murres, 2,400 black-bellied plovers and more than 3,500 Heermann's gulls.

• A wide array of wildlife can be seen at the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge, near Cathlamet. Look for the rare Columbia White-tailed deer (for which the refuge was founded), elk, otter, beaver, muskrat and many of the more than 250 bird species at the refuge. Common seasonal sightings at the refuge include mallard, pintail, American wigeon, bufflehead and green-winged teal, plus great blue herons, swans, bald eagles, peregrine falcons and red-tailed hawks.  

• The latest installation in the Audubon Society's "Great Washington State Birding Trail" series of illustrated bird-watching maps is now available and highlights southwestern Washington. Featuring more than 50 birding sites, including driving directions, facilities and detailed descriptions of the species that inhabit each area, the maps are available online at http://wa.audubon.org/new/audubon/, or by calling Washington Audubon at (206) 652-2444.

• Shorebirds are already starting to group up for their upcoming southbound fall migrations, and the Columbia Basin is one of the best areas in Eastern Washington to watch them.  Between the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge and the thousands of acres of wildlife lands that WDFW manages in Adams and Grant counties, there are plenty of spots to see avocets, curlews, phalaropes, plovers, sandpipers and other shorebirds.

• Hawks, falcons and eagles will also be seen on the move soon. Look for these raptors to move in concentrations along mountain ridges where they save energy by soaring in thermals and updrafts.  Known raptor migration routes in the region include Slate Peak and Hart's Pass in Okanogan County and Red Top Mountain between Wenatchee and Ellensburg.

August 4-17, 2004

• The big run of sockeye salmon into the Lake Washington system should start moving into the Cedar River in the coming weeks, providing up-close glimpses of the fish, which begin to take on a bright-red body color as they prepare to spawn. The lion's share of the run is headed to the Cedar, where great views of the migrating salmon can be gained from the bridges that span the river in downtown Renton, and at Cedar River Park, just upstream of the I-405 bridge. Please don't harass the salmon, and be sure to keep children and pets in hand.

• Killer whales have been wowing whale-watchers in the San Juan Islands, particularly off the west side of San Juan Island itself. Look for members of the resident J, K and L pods off Lime Kiln State Park as they feed, play and socialize with their relatives. 

• Anyone driving across the Warren Avenue Bridge in Bremerton might want to keep an eye out for pelagic cormorants drafting on breezes the full length of the span. Last year, more than 500 of the black seabirds were found nesting on ledges under the bridge - and most of them are doing so again, even after being interrupted by a three-month painting project by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). As of mid-July, wildlife biologists had counted 19 chicks and 204 eggs in nests under the newly painted bridge.

• Most birds have fledged young and populations are at their annual high.  Access points along Highway 97 between East Wenatchee and Chelan Falls are a good bet for eagles, ospreys, waterfowl, grebes and common loons. Arctic breeding shorebirds have already begun fall migrations and birders should carefully scan all shoreline areas and mudflats for these earliest of migrants.

• Local birders report that water levels are dropping fast at Wenas Lake, leaving more and more exposed mudflats that shorebirds love to forage in. Recently seen were least, solitary, semi-
  palmated, spotted, and western sandpipers, lesser yellowlegs, long-billed dowitcher, Wilson's snipe, red-necked phalarope, and killdeer. Many of those species, plus semiplamated plover, black-necked stilt, Wilson's phalarope and greater yellowlegs, were also recently seen in greater numbers at Yakima County's Grandview Wastewater Treatment Plant; in fact, local birders are calling this one-stop spot for shorebirds or "peeps" one of the biggest shows in Yakima County's birding lore. Wenas Lake is also currently hosting Bonaparte's gull, double-crested cormorant, mallard, wood duck, Canada goose, and great blue heron.
  

August 6-19, 2003

• Birders  reported an estimated 3,000 sooty shearwaters and 1,000 Heermann's gulls flocking at Ocean Shores during the first week of August. Meanwhile, turkey vultures, which only visit Washington in summer, are being reported throughout the state, with recent sightings in Joyce, Morton, Clallam Bay, Oakville, Hoquiam, Yelm, Sequim and Littlerock.

• Flocks of up to a dozen turkey vultures have been spotted "kettling" over the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge since early July, looking for road kill and other carrion during their annual mid-summer migration to Washington state. Other sightings have been reported in Chinook, Skamokawa and elsewhere in the region.

• Roadside wildlife viewable from the comfort of an air-conditioned car include bald eaglets and young osprey newly fledged from nests along the shores of Lake Roosevelt and the Pend Oreille River. 

• The southwest end of Sprague Lake in Adams County is currently hosting dozens of state endangered American white pelicans. No binoculars or scopes are needed to view these big birds as they preen and feed on fish around the lake's island just across from the WDFW water access site off Danekas Road. Lots of diving ducks, coots, grebes, herons, and gulls are also visible in the same area. The wetlands and higher shrub-steppe habitat on the southwest end of the lake are also good places to watch and listen for willow flycatchers, eastern kingbirds, marsh wrens, and other songsters.

August 7-20, 2002

• The wildflowers are now in bloom on Mount Rainier and other alpine areas, attracting hikers and nectar-eaters alike. On the trail to Sluiskin Falls at Mount Rainier National Park, brown and yellow butterflies can be seen flitting between purple aster, fireweed and ragwort. The most common species – the brightly colored silver spot (Argynnis), fritillary (Brenthis) and American tortoise shell (Venessa) – are all members of the Nymphalidae family, characterized by legs too short for walking. Dozens of other species, from tiny skippers to northern blues, add to the kaleidoscope of color as they pollinate the wildflowers in the process of drawing nectar. Hikers should also watch for white-tailed ptarmigan, marmots, pikas and mountain goats, all of which can be found in the park.

• WDFW northeast district wildlife biologist Steve Zender recommends evening drives around the backroads of the (southeast?) region now to view whitetail and mule deer. "The bucks are still in velvet and tend to be less wary than after their antlers harden and they shine them up in early September," Zender said. "Fawns are beginning to venture out more with their mothers now. We still won't see the actual true ratio of fawns though for another month or more and that is why we do our buck/doe ratio surveys in August and wait until September for our fawn/doe surveys." Zender says the best time to view deer is the last 90 minutes before dark on calm, cool evenings. In the south end of the region, fish biologist Debbie Milks also reports excellent deer viewing every evening in the Blue Mountains. "Deer can be found on the edge of wheat, alfalfa, and grass fields," she says. "Look up green valleys, near the edge of a creek or river, or under apple trees." Milks recently observed more than 50 deer between Pomeroy and Dayton while driving over Blind Grade to the Tucannon River valley, then up Hartsock Grade to Dayton. 

• In the far southeast corner of the state, Bob Dice reports 25 to 80 elk are highly visible and fairly used to viewers in a five to six-acre field near the Chief Joseph Wildlife Area headquarters building from late afternoon (about 5:30 p.m.) until dark every day. The Chief Joe also hosts lots of turkey and quail with chicks and bighorn sheep on the cliffs to the north side of the mouth of the Grand Ronde River.

• WDFW regional wildlife program manager Lee Stream reports bighorn sheep are visible in the Yakima Canyon, mountain goats are regularly seen on the cliffs above Gold Run Restaurant off Highway 410, and deer and elk can sometimes be seen in the early mornings by driving some of the forest service roads in the timbered areas.

August 8-21, 2001

• Look for large gatherings of sandpipers and a host of other shorebirds at the West 90 Ponds near the mouth of the Samish River in northern Skagit County.

• Wildlife watching opportunities at the mouth of the Columbia River, where brown pelicans can be spotted.

• In mountain meadows ripening berries and seeds and plentiful insects are drawing warblers, juncoes, chipping sparrows and bluebirds.

• At Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, baby black terns can be spotted on the south unit. The four pairs which produced the young are believed to be the first to breed west of the Cascades. To try for a peek and to see a host of other birds including bitterns, northern harriers, herons and egrets, drive the south unit auto loop.

• Enormous flocks of sooty shearwaters are putting on a show of their own on Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor. Dark in color as their name suggests and slightly bigger than a crow, shearwaters flock by the tens of thousands and dive in a continuous loop to feed on anchovies, sardines and other small fish. "They look like a huge conveyor belt when they feed," said Bill Tweit, a WDFW policy advisor and an avid birder. "We haven't seen them in these numbers for a decade or more, which is an indication that our food fish stocks are in better shape than they have been." Numerous other shorebird species are also arriving from the south, he said, including the common murre, which looks a bit like a small penguin. Look for them along jetties and craggy shorelines. If you see an adult in the water trailed by a string of baby birds, it's probably a male. The females fly north on their own.

August 20, 2001 (SW WA News)

• Columbia River Osprey Survey: District Wildlife Biologist Miller and Wildlife Biologist Huang conducted the annual survey of Ospreys nesting along the Columbia River from Woodland to Skamokawa. Ospreys were one of the species that benefitted directly from the restrictions on pesticides adopted in the 1970's. Historically, ospreys nested in tall trees and snags that occurred naturally along the banks of the Columbia River. The habitat has changed with time and the osprey has be very adaptable. Nesting structures vary from dolphins used to tie up log rafts to aids to navigation markers used by river traffic.  A total of 36 nests were documented in this survey, with many located in industrial settings with high levels of disturbance. Several new nests were found this year.
  

August 10-24, 2000

• Wildflowers are in bloom on Mount Rainier and that the time to see them is short. Purple lupine, glacier lilies, magenta paintbrushes and countless other species create a visual spectacle that has become a symbol of the Northwest. They don't call it Paradise for nothing.

• Photographers and hunters alike are checking out mule deer bucks which are highly visible as they forage in the green fields of the Methow Valley. 

August 12-25, 1999

• White pelicans are grouping at some eastside lakes now and should be around for the rest of the month. Breeding birds from the north, with gray-colored young in tow, are joining resident non-breeders which have been with us all summer. Sprague Lake on the Lincoln-Adams county line is a good place to see pelicans, according to WDFW District Wildlife Biologist Jerry Hickman. But now the big birds are also seen at Coffeepot Lake and the Swanson Lake Wildlife Area in central Lincoln County, and at Philleo Lake near Spangle in Spokane County. Pelican watchers can call WDFW's Swanson Lake Wildlife Area (509) 636-2344 for the latest on where to look.

• Check out the mountain goats in Mt. Rainier National Park in the south Cascades, especially in the Sunrise area. Hiking trails offer the best goat viewing, but sometimes goats are close to roads. Backpackers in the Goat Rocks Wilderness Area south of the park are almost sure to get a glimpse.
  

August 13-26, 1998

• Potholes Reservoir is an extensive wetland area near Moses Lake that provides excellent habitat for migrating shorebirds.  Shorebirds are foraging on mudflats which appear as heat dries up small waterholes. Species expected to pass through the area in late summer include western, least, pectoral, stilt and Baird’s sandpipers; American avocet, Wilson’s and red-necked phalaropes, black-necked stilts, semipalmated plovers and long-billed curlews.  Several species of gulls, terns and jaegers also visit during this season.  Smaller numbers of passerines and shorebirds linger into October.  This month also provides the best opportunities for viewing plover species and marks the time when various gulls begin drifting in from the Columbia River.  Potholes Reservoir is located approximately 3.5 miles southwest of Moses Lake in central Washington. Other good areas to see migrating shorebirds are the Dungeness Wildlife Refuge near Sequim and the Willapa National Wild life Refuge on the Long Beach Peninsula.

• Salmon returning to rivers and streams to complete their life cycles provide viewing.

• Little White Salmon Hatchery -- The hatchery has underwater viewing windows and a viewing platform outdoors to see spawning in the river and movement up the fish ladder. Spring chinook: up-river bright fall chinook and coho salmon spawn here from mid-July through October The hatchery is located about 13 miles east of Stevenson in southwest Washington. The hatchery is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call (509) 538-2755 for more information on hatchery tour.
• Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery Complex -- Spectacular adult salmon1 some weighing 30 pounds, can be seen in the hatchery and river. There are displays and an interpretive trail with information about the hatchery and operations. The hatchery is located on Icicle Road, off Highway 2 west of Leavenworth. The hatchery is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Merwin Hatchery -- This hatchery is funded by PacifiCorp and managed by WDFW. Summer-run steelhead adults, tiger muskie, juvenile steelhead and sea-run cutthroat can be seen from the viewing deck.  The hatchery is located 10 miles east of Woodland on Hwy. 503 and is open daily from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Call (360) 225-2120 for more information. 
• Carson National Fish Hatchery -- Spring chinook can be seen from a viewing platform and on Mondays, through August, spawning operations can be observed. The hatchery is located at the confluence of Tyee Creek and Wind River about 14 miles north of the Columbia River, and about 60 miles east of Vancouver. Turn north from SR 14 about 3 miles east of Stevenson. Proceed 14 miles to the hatchery.

August 23 - September 5, 2006

• While songbirds are still in full voice throughout the region, thousands of shorebirds are now joining the refrain. Back from the Arctic, greater yellowlegs, lesser yellowlegs, sandpipers, dowitchers and other species are touching down in marshes and mudflats throughout the region.  Vancouver Lake, the Woodland Bottoms and the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge are all good places to spot these birds.

• Late summer is a good time to watch birds on the southwest end of Sprague Lake in northeast Adams County from WDFW's water access site and viewing area off Danekas Road. (From Interstate 90 eastbound, take the Tokio exit and follow Danekas Road about six miles.) White pelicans and tundra swans are often highly visible on the lake now and could be around the general vicinity for a while, at least until the first cold front moves them south. 

August 24 - September 6, 2005

• Purple martins have fledged their young and are assembling for their yearly migration to the Amazonian rain forest. Small numbers of martins have been spotted with their cousins, barn and violet-green swallows.

  Swallows and blackbirds are gathering in large numbers, preparing to start southbound migrations. 

• Debbie Milks, a WDFW fish biologist in Dayton, notes that a good bird-watching site near Richland on the Columbia River is about half a mile above the Port of Benton sign. Great blue herons and egrets have nested there on an island, and the big birds are still in the area and highly visible. Look for herons perched on shoreline shrubs, standing at the river's edge and wading for fish. 

  WDFW Fish Biologist Curt Vail suggests a different kind of wildlife-watching experience: Curlew Lake, just north of Republic, has a rainbow trout rearing program that affords a boat-side view of these beautiful fish in net pens. Vail says local volunteers, including Gordon McIntyre, maintain the project.

• Late summer is a good time to watch birds on the southwest end of Sprague Lake in northeast Adams County from WDFW's water access site and viewing area off Danekas Road. Access the site from Interstate 90 eastbound by taking the Tokio exit and follow Danekas Road for about six miles. White pelicans and tundra swans are often highly visible on the lake now, and the big birds could be around the general vicinity until the first major cold front moves them south.  At times, Sprague Lake has the largest concentration of canvasback in Eastern Washington. Harper Island, just across from the WDFW boat launch, is a nesting area for gulls, ducks and geese, and can become a gathering spot for birds during spring and fall migrations.

• Bruce Berry, WDFW Oak Creek Wildlife Area assistant manager, reports consistent sightings of bighorn sheep in the bottom two miles of Oak Creek, and in the hills above the wildlife area headquarters. There are no big rams in this group, but lots of ewes with this year's lambs, plus a couple juvenile rams.  On hot afternoons, they are in the creek bottom feeding on the lush vegetation coming in where we had the Oak Creek wildfire three years ago.  Lewis' woodpeckers are frequent visitors to the same area, attracted to snags left by the fire.

• About half way up the Yakima Canyon Road from Yakima, above Roza Dam, there's a group of bighorn sheep that just jump out at you against the lush green riparian vegetation," he said. "They're staying lower and near water in these dry conditions."

August 18-31, 2004

• The "fall" shorebird migration is already in full swing for many species. One birder reported sooty shearwaters streaming past his post at Grayland at a rate of 200 birds per minute. Recent sightings include: 350 marbled godwits near the Tokeland boat basin; large numbers of greater yellowlegs and lesser yellowlegs at the Johns River Wildlife Area; tufted puffins, black oystercatchers, red-throated loons, black turnstones and more than 100 rhinoceros auklets at Cape Flattery; and one or more green herons, American bitterns, willow flycatchers and western tanagers at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge in southern Puget Sound.

• Lots of great egrets at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.

August 20 - September 2, 2003

• Birders sailing out of LaConner reported seeing an estimated 100 Caspian terns, 30 black oystercatchers, a few black turnstones and a solitary surfbird.

• New trail to Shi Shi Beach -- the Makahs have completed a three-mile trail, complete with cedar-planked walkways and a gravel parking lot.  The northern-most beach in Olympic National Park, Shi Shi is a crescent-shaped strip of sand bounded on the north by the Makah Reservation and on the south by Point of Arches, the most magnificent headland on the coast. Raccoons are a common sight, as are bald eagles, ospreys, tufted puffins and a wide variety of other seabirds.  At Shi Shi and further south at Cape Alava, sea otters can often be seen bobbing among the kelp beds, preening, snoozing and cracking shellfish.  

• Tweeters Reports:
• Redrock Pass on the Skamania-Cowlitz county line, south of Mount St. Helens -- common nighthawks, a great horned owl, Northern pygmy owls and Northern saw-whet owls were heard. 
• Blue Lake trailhead offered glimpses of a juvenile American dipper, red crossbills, band-tailed pigeons and Vaux's swifts. 
• Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge (Wahkiakum County) -- a cinnamon teal and a black phoebe were spotted. Other birds seen on the refuge included two white-tailed kites, Vaux's swifts and purple martins. 
• Altoona -- several common loons and both pelagic and double-crested cormorants.
• Underwood (southeast Skamania County) was reported to be "crawling with birds;" on the back roads many violet-green and barn swallows were on the electric lines. Other birds of note were over 100 California quail with half-grown young, a flock of wild turkeys, 100-plus American goldfinches, black-headed grosbeaks, western tanagers, brown-headed cowbirds, mourning doves, young mountain bluebirds, downy woodpeckers, 20 turkey vultures, purple and house finches. 
• Home Valley park and wildlife area (Lower Columbia River) -- migrant birds including willow and dusky flycatchers, warbling vireos, black-throated gray warblers, common yellowthroats, Bewick's wren, black-headed grosbeaks, a pileated woodpecker and great blue heron.

• Shorebirds are already grouping up for southbound fall migrations, and the Columbia Basin is one of the best areas on the eastside to watch them. Between the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge and WDFW's thousands of acres in wildlife lands in Adams and Grant counties, there are plenty of spots to see avocets, curlews, phalaropes, plovers, sandpipers, and other shorebirds. 

• Migrating hawks, falcons and eagles might soon be seen moving in concentrations along mountain ridges where they save energy by soaring in thermals and updrafts. 
• Known raptor migration routes in the northcentral Washington region include Slate Peak and Hart's Pass in Okanogan County and Red Top Mountain between Wenatchee and Ellensburg. 
• The Saddle Mountains, Yakima Ridge, and Rattlesnake Hills area, near the Columbia River in southcentral Washington are known raptor migration routes.
  

• Bull elk begin bugling in early September to let other bulls - and cows - know of their superiority, so it's not too soon to plan a trip to watch for and listen to them. One of the best places to observe this ritual in the Yakima area is around Raven's Roost in the Little Naches River drainage in the far northwestern corner of Yakima County (follow Hwy. 410 northwest of Naches). For the best viewing opportunities, arrive just before daylight (or plan to camp in one of the many forest service campgrounds in the area), and walk the Cougar Valley trail. Elk are normally visible on the open hillsides until about 7 a.m., when they move down into timber.

August 21 - September 3, 2002

• The 410 haul road on the Cowlitz Wildlife Area was recently the site of a mass movement of Western toadlets. The mass movement usually takes place in late summer and has become an increasingly uncommon sight in the west Cascade lowlands as habitat continues to shrink. 

• It's time to watch big white birds on Sprague Lake. That's the word from WDFW district wildlife biologist Howard Ferguson who reports that groups of white pelicans and tundra swans are highly visible on the lake now. The birds could be around the general vicinity for awhile, Ferguson says, at least until the first cold front moves them south.

• Shorebirds are grouping up for south-bound fall migrations and the Columbia Basin is one of the best areas on the eastside to watch them. Between the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge and the wildlife lands WDFW owns in Adams and Grant counties, there are plenty of spots to see avocets, curlews, phalaropes, plovers, sandpipers and other shorebirds.

• Other birds migrating south include hawks, falcons and eagles, which might be seen moving in concentrations along mountain ridges where they save energy by soaring in thermals and updrafts. Known raptor migration routes in the region include Slate Peak and Hart's Pass in Okanogan County and Red Top Mountain between Wenatchee and Ellensburg.

August 22 - September 4, 2001

• The August storm might have played havoc with the coastal salmon fishery, but there's a silver lining for bird watchers. Albatross, shearwaters and other birds that usually stay a mile or more from shore have taken to the beach for temporary refuge. "During a blow like this, you'll see birds on the beach that you wouldn't otherwise see," said Jack Smith, regional WDFW wildlife manager. 
• Also keep an eye out for brown pelicans, which have increased in number on the Washington coast in recent years, Smith said. Northern fishing towns such as Westport and Ilwaco provide a summer getaway for younger, non-breeding birds while their elders take on family obligations in California, he said. Look for them on pilings around coastal marinas through the end of September,

• California tortoiseshell butterfly (Nymphalis californica) reportedly has been located in huge numbers in Glenwood (Klickitat County). This butterfly population reproduces in terrific numbers in 7- to 10-year cycles. WDFW Biologist David Anderson located a two or three-acre area of buck brush (Ceanothus) near Glenwood that was completely denuded of its leaves from tortoiseshell butterfly caterpillars. Following the caterpillar stage, thousands of chrysalides are formed before the adult stage hatches. Anderson estimates that several hundred thousand adult butterflies emerged during a four-to-five day period. Noted butterfly expert Bob Pyle has this to say about the tortoiseshell: "This enigmatic butterfly builds up its numbers for years until it bursts out in phenomenal mass movements. In such years the mountain balm and deerbrush are defoliated over wide areas; tortoiseshells show up a long way from their points of nativity, and they become the most abundant butterflies along the mountain streams. Then the numbers crash, and scarcely a tortoiseshell will be seen in the entire region for the next several years. Our last great peak lasted about from 1985-1990, peaking in 1987.

August 23 - September 6, 2000

• Shorebirds are migrating back through Washington. Juvenile shorebirds can be recognized by their new plumage which is bright compared to adults with worn feathers. Good shorebird viewing times are on out-going or incoming tides when about 50 to 70 yards of tideflats are exposed. Shorebirds and other migrating birds may be viewed from Bayview State Park. Birdwatchers also can try the Jensen access on the Skagit Wildlife Area (Take the Conway exit from I-5, go west and when road bends to a sharp right, continue straight. Watch for small a "public hunting" sign on the left which marks the area).

• Bird watchers know that late August through September is a prime time to watch shorebirds gathering for the flight south. Willapa National Wildlife Refuge and Leadbetter Point State Park are great spots to observe the aerial display, as are the Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge and the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge further north.

• This is the last chance to see pelicans at Sprague, Coffeepot, and Swanson lakes in Lincoln County before they move south, says WDFW wildlife biologist Jerry Hickman.

• This is a good time of year to see mountain goats along the road to Timberwolf Mountain near Naches; mule deer, elk and a myriad of birds are also for the watching in this area.