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June 12, 2004

On Saturday the 12th eight birders headed out from Republic at 5:30 for an outing 35 miles down the San Poil and back. After returning to Republic we birded Mud Lake and the south end of Curlew Lake just north of town, and some of us continued by going up into the Mt. Leona burn at the north end of the Kettle Crest.

At our first stop a couple miles south of town the fog cleared enough to see a small group of Bobolinks cavorting out in the meadow. Two Virginia Rails called by the road without any prompt from us. The most prominent vocalizers down the valley were some of the more recent arrivals: Willow Flycatcher, Catbird, and Veery. We made numerous stops as we moved down the beautiful upper valley, and at most every stop we heard Veery and usually saw a Catbird in addition to listening to its complicated tale. One highlight for the day was a Veery that sat at the very top of a bush and sang. We also found a Pacific-slope Flycatcher coming to a mossy nest on the north side of a large boulder, and heard Canyon Wren farther north than has been noted before.

South of the Ten Mile Campground we began concentrating on finding Red-eyed Vireo and Northern Waterthrush. We heard several vireo's but couldn't find one for a good look among the large cottonwood leaves. At Devil's Elbow a waterthrush was calling very close to the road, but the best view we had was of the bird flying back and forth over the road. MacGillivray's Warbler was also noted as one of the most common birds in the area. Despite a little disappointment at not getting the views we would have liked of some species, everyone appreciated being in such a beautiful place on such a nice day weather-wise.

Back in Republic some of us lunched in a Main Street restaurant while the Prospector's Day parade passed by the picture window. Who says you can't have it all? At the most pleasant Mud Lake close comparisons of Greater with Lesser Scaup were obtained, as well as a good assortment of other ducks. One Red-necked Grebe was taking its midday nap during our visit, much as some of us had done, or wished we had.

At Curlew Lake Betty Buckley invited us to her place, from where we had great views of a Bald Eagle nest with three large eaglets. Naturally the parents were about, and active. We watched one of the parents strip a fish for the kids and their outsized beaks. Also nearby were four Black Terns, resting on a snag over the water, and occasionally wheeling around. Calliope hummers provided more entertainment.

Four of us went up the Aeneas Creek Road to the Mt. Leona burn, where there has obviously been a lot of woodpecker activity. We saw five species of woodpecker, including two great views of one or maybe two male Black-backed Woodpecker. The grubs extracted from shallow chiseling were large. There were also a large number of Pine Siskin in this area, as well as Cassin's Finch, and Hermit Thrush. A more notable identification was the continuing call of a White-crowned Sparrow from the brushy mountainside. This was close to 5,000' in elevation.

Back at Curlew Lake near sunset there were between fifty and a hundred Nighthawks over the lake and adjacent land. Very hard to count. A few Vaux's Swifts came in, but no Black's. Alan Richards and I drove back to a spot on the Rattlesnake Loop road where I heard Flammulated Owl the night before. This is near Swan Lake. He had driven 400 miles Friday afternoon from Naselle, arriving in Republic about 2:30 a.m. We briefly tried to elicit a response from the owl, before turning in at about 11:30. Alan was going to change into sweats, but after getting one shoe off fell dead asleep upright in the driver's seat. Birding at its best, some of us say.