Cowlitz County Journal

Hello! This link is under www.cowlitzcountybirding.blogspot.com, a birding blog where I made no entries this year (2023). Because I was on a quest to get 150 birds in Skamania, Cowlitz, Clark, and Wahkiakum counties for the year, I lumped them all into one blog, www.southwestwashingtonbirding.com, rather than following my pattern from other blogs, www.chelancountybirding.com, www.masoncountybirding.com... you get the idea - if it's a county in Washington, I'm hoping to have "done" it at some point, and a link www.(nameofthecounty)countybirding.blogspot.com whould get you there. 

That may be how you got to this Cowlitz post! Here, I'll pull out only the posts that reference Cowlitz County, chronologically: 

January 1st - The Cowlitz-Columbia Christmas Bird Count

Right out of the gate, I spent a full day in Cowlitz. Red-Shouldered Hawk was definitely a highlight, and the. . . the whole thing with the egrets officially began. 63 species for the day.

January 3rd - Steigerwald and Woodland Bottoms

The latter, of course, is in Cowlitz County, and was a place where I found many many birds this year. I think this site alone had at least 75-80 of the species I found for the year.

January 18th - North Cowlitz Day Trip

Quick day trip down, with some time simply spent at the Vault in Castle Rock. I got up to Canal Road for a Code 4 Northern Shrike, and got a Northern Saw-whet Owl on the way down. 

February 8th - Cowlitz and Clark

I actually started and ended my day in Cowlitz, bringing the total to 83 species for the year. 

March 29th - Digitally Nomadic Cowlitz Trip, Day 1

March 30th - Digitally Nomadic Cowlitz Trip, Day 2

What an amazing trip. I got around to nearly the whole county in these two days, and late March had some nice arrivals. I ended the second day at an even 100 species for the year, after picking up a Canada Jay at Barnes Forest on the way home. It was also, again, a mix of birding and sitting down in cafes to do some writing/editing. 

April 22nd - The Great Escape - Day 4

Another attempt to find Rough-legged Hawks in Cowlitz (I'm typing this in November, and I still don't have one for the year), following a trip report from Willow Grove that included three roughies. Goodness.

May 12th - Cowlitz County, Toutle to Saint Helens

Just an amazing day, birding with Kevin Black. Northern Pygmy-Owls at several spots during the day, Townsend's Solitaire, and stupid views of Mount Saint Helens. Going back to read it, it felt like two trips. Ended the day at 133 species. 

May 27/28th - Whistle Punk and Wind Mountain (Skamania County)

The very end of this includes some details about arriving in Cowlitz County and camping for the night. 

May 29th - I'll take Towns that Start with Y for 500, Alex

The Cowlitz installment included birding around the town of Yale, a good place to search for Yellow-breasted Chat (confirmed!). I additionally was able to find my Cowlitz County Hermit Warbler. I got four counties of Hermit Warblers during the year - what a treat!

July 25th - A Spotty Bit of Cleanup

This trip got me to 147 in Cowlitz. Just picking up some lingering breeding birds, as well as a few migrating shorebirds at meeker pond. 

October 14th - Wahk-Cow!

It's just fun to say, but this was basically a half Wahkiakum/half Cowlitz effort that got me to 150 species for the year (Greater White-fronted Goose at Woodland Bottoms was the final species).

October 29th - November Trip, Day One

October 31st - November Trip, Day Three

Two swings through Woodland Bottoms, because . . . darn you, Rough-legged Hawks! I did pick up Snow Geese on the trip back through on my way home. 

In addition to these posts, this needs list and running tally page can provide a snapshot of the year.