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tiggymalvern
The weather forecast for the second day was the worst of the weekend, so of course that was the day I'd picked to go up into the mountains. Sometimes it is what it is!
It started out cloudier than the day before and just as chilly. We spent a while down by the Snake River spotting some ducks before we started the long drive uphill.
Looking over the Port of Willa on the Snake River.
We made a number of stops as we followed Asotin Creek into the hills, and at one of them we found a cooperative Townsend's Solitaire perched on a fence. The one I'd seen the day before was less friendly, and I got a single blurry shot of before it vanished.
As we climbed higher into the hills, the clouds dispersed and the day turned absolutely gorgeous. Still a long way from warm, but very enjoyable, and good weather brings out the birds too.
I'd actually been up the same road the night before on an owling trip (yes I did go out owling until after midnight and then get up at 5am again for the day birding. Worth it though, since I finally got my flammulated owl!) We'd got the impression in the dark that there was beautiful habitat and landscape up there, but seeing it in daylight and sunshine, it was perfect, lovely mix of meadows and trees. We searched the burned trees for black-backed woodpeckers but didn't find any (the group the day before did).
As we entered the Umatilla National Forest, the road changed its name from Asotin Creek Road to NF 41 and the trees closed in. We found a northern goshawk that usefully flew across the road right in front of us, and then perched in a tree higher up the ridge.
Less usefully, the weather was also closing in again. When we reached the plateau on a ridge of the Blue Mountains, it began to snow.
The snow didn't stick to the road, which was probably a great relief to the guy in a 2WD car, but it sat on the trees and meadows somewhat. (Those are not our tyre tracks on the grass.)
It was pretty birdless up at the top for obvious reasons. We did find one small flock of finches and chickadees, but our main target bird, the Williamson's sapsuckers, had all gone back to bed in their holes. The people who had been up there the week before in good weather had seen 20 or 30 of them.
Mountain meadows with flowers and snow.
Birdless as it was, we all agreed it was pretty up there, and we also all agreed that we would prefer to be snowed on than rained on. Some of the groups who were birding at lower elevations that Saturday afternoon were getting wet.
We did get some brief rain as we descended back to the lower hills again, and finally a major road!
And then the weather improved again for the last section where we'd planned a walk, so it all worked out pretty well, considering. A long-billed curlew also flew by the car as we were driving, a species that had never been reported in Garfield county before. (To be fair, a lot of birds are listed as not commonly reported in Asotin and Garfield counties even though they're there, because not many people live in those areas. You don't see what nobody's looking for.)
Yellow lupines, among other flowers.
A Columbian ground squirrel peeking out from a log pile.
Other than the snow up top stopping us from getting a few of the mountain birds, it was a good day.
It started out cloudier than the day before and just as chilly. We spent a while down by the Snake River spotting some ducks before we started the long drive uphill.
Looking over the Port of Willa on the Snake River.
We made a number of stops as we followed Asotin Creek into the hills, and at one of them we found a cooperative Townsend's Solitaire perched on a fence. The one I'd seen the day before was less friendly, and I got a single blurry shot of before it vanished.
As we climbed higher into the hills, the clouds dispersed and the day turned absolutely gorgeous. Still a long way from warm, but very enjoyable, and good weather brings out the birds too.
I'd actually been up the same road the night before on an owling trip (yes I did go out owling until after midnight and then get up at 5am again for the day birding. Worth it though, since I finally got my flammulated owl!) We'd got the impression in the dark that there was beautiful habitat and landscape up there, but seeing it in daylight and sunshine, it was perfect, lovely mix of meadows and trees. We searched the burned trees for black-backed woodpeckers but didn't find any (the group the day before did).
As we entered the Umatilla National Forest, the road changed its name from Asotin Creek Road to NF 41 and the trees closed in. We found a northern goshawk that usefully flew across the road right in front of us, and then perched in a tree higher up the ridge.
Less usefully, the weather was also closing in again. When we reached the plateau on a ridge of the Blue Mountains, it began to snow.
The snow didn't stick to the road, which was probably a great relief to the guy in a 2WD car, but it sat on the trees and meadows somewhat. (Those are not our tyre tracks on the grass.)
It was pretty birdless up at the top for obvious reasons. We did find one small flock of finches and chickadees, but our main target bird, the Williamson's sapsuckers, had all gone back to bed in their holes. The people who had been up there the week before in good weather had seen 20 or 30 of them.
Mountain meadows with flowers and snow.
Birdless as it was, we all agreed it was pretty up there, and we also all agreed that we would prefer to be snowed on than rained on. Some of the groups who were birding at lower elevations that Saturday afternoon were getting wet.
We did get some brief rain as we descended back to the lower hills again, and finally a major road!
And then the weather improved again for the last section where we'd planned a walk, so it all worked out pretty well, considering. A long-billed curlew also flew by the car as we were driving, a species that had never been reported in Garfield county before. (To be fair, a lot of birds are listed as not commonly reported in Asotin and Garfield counties even though they're there, because not many people live in those areas. You don't see what nobody's looking for.)
Yellow lupines, among other flowers.
A Columbian ground squirrel peeking out from a log pile.
Other than the snow up top stopping us from getting a few of the mountain birds, it was a good day.
no subject
Date: 2026-05-26 10:59 pm (UTC)I hadn't realised it was cold enough for it to snow where you were going. It's nearly summer there!
no subject
Date: 2026-05-26 11:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-27 07:17 am (UTC)The area where you went looks so picturesque - like something that should be in a coffee table book of nature.
no subject
Date: 2026-05-27 01:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-27 09:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-27 01:43 pm (UTC)