Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Once rare in the area, small numbers of Great Egrets are now regularly found here in winter. Volunteers found three in the Wahkiakum circle on county day.
A flock of geese takes flight during the count.
When southwest storms have been blowing, we may have dozens of Surf Scoters in the area. It's a different story when east winds are blowing. Thyis scoter, on the south side of Hunting Island, was the only one found in the circle on count day.
Volunteers for the annual Christmas Bird Count rambled the Wahkiakum area by foot, car and kayak during daylight hours on December 30 to take a tally of bird species in a designated circle with a 15 mile diameter. The area includes Brownsmead, Ore, the Julia Butler Hansen refuge and the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife refuge as well as Cathlamet and Skamokawa and all the areas in between.
The first Christmas Bird Count was organized in 1900 in response to a popular Christmas event, the side hunt, where people would compete to see who could kill the most birds. The Christmas Bird Count became a popular alternative and now it takes place all over the western hemisphere.
The local event was organized 17 years ago by Skamokawa resident Andrew Emlen and is sponsored by Willapa Hills Audubon Society and Columbia River Kayaking. This year, 25 people from around the area participated.
"We counted 49,651 birds in our circle," Emlen said. "We found 120 species including two winter vagrants, the Snowy Egret and the Cedar Waxwing."
The largest local population counted this year was the Cackling Goose. The volunteers counted over 16,000 of them on Tuesday.
"This event is an important source of data for bird researchers and for land managers who wish to be good stewards of wildlife on their lands," said Darrel Whipple of Rainier. Whipple got into birding after working as a ranger for the National Park Service at Fort Huachuca in southeastern Arizona.
"I enjoy the beauty and sound of birds," Whipple said. "I always come home from a count on a sort of birding high. My most exciting find this year was the Ruffed grouse, which exploded into flight as we almost stumbled onto it in the woods."
It was the only one seen that day.
"In some ways it's kind of soft data," Emlen said. "It's not one person sitting in one spot listening for a prescribed amount of minutes. You get varying amounts of effort each year depending on who can show up. But one thing it is very good at is at representing whether a species is present or not. They have found that a lot of species have abandoned count circles in the south and moved into ones to the north. The birds don't have a political opinion they are just responding to the environment and it has gotten warmer. Black Phoebe and Red-shouldered Hawks are here. They were common in California. Now they're here."
"That's part of what makes the count interesting," Emlen continued. "It does change."
steve Puddicombe and Kyleen Austin paddled to Tenasillahe Island and combed its seven mile circumference for birds. According to Puddicombe, they saw or heard 46 species including a Barn Owl and two Great Egrets.
"Birding, like all endeavors with nature," Puddicombe said, "is richly rewarding because you become intimate with all the beauty and diversity of the world around you. The same can be said for hunting and fishing, mushroom picking and rock hounding. The more you know about something the more of that beautiful world is revealed. Birding is so accessible. They are everywhere around us.
Emlen demonstrated what he called "pishing," making noises to get the birds to respond to alarm calls. The birds become visible momentarily and can be counted.
"It's bird harassment really," he laughed, "so we don't do a lot of it. Those frequencies are thought to match alarm call frequencies. Alarm calls by their very nature are hard for the predator to triangulate and find. The safest bird is the one giving the alarm call. It doesn't have to move, it already sees the predator. The other birds generally respond by popping up to see."
Part of the pleasure of birding is being about to pick them out by their song.
And listening for birdsong, according to Emlen, is a way to always be present in the moment.
Willapa Hills Audubon Society is taking a field trip to Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge this Saturday. They will meet at 8:45 a.m. at the refuge office. They will be driving and hiking. Dress for the weather and bring water and snacks. For more information, call 360-575-9238.
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