Stories in Place: Dog Rock Gorge

This “Stories in Place” post features a late-afternoon 2/9/21 trip report by naturalist Jenny Graevell, and the larger tale of how her conservation volunteerism has engendered a strong web of friendships. For more than three decades, Jenny has warmly introduced the magic of shrub-steppe bird habitats to hundreds of new-comers to North Central Washington, including all of the photographers featured in this post who generously shared their images. As a community scientist, Jenny volunteers for regional Christmas Bird Counts, leads trips for Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest, teaches continuing education classes, and helps with NCW Audubon Society projects. Jenny’s words are endued with curiosity, wonder, and joy and show how local landscapes anchor us all to home. Now, enjoy Jenny’s field journal entry!

Feb. 9, 2021, 25 degrees F. The sun and the future forecast were the inspiration to get outdoors before the arrival of the cold snap. My amazing friend Monica gave me directions to a fabulous canyon where she sometimes hikes with her Aussies. Just a couple of miles up the highway and we were there. Unfortunately, my husband, Wayne, and I arrived just as the last rays of the sun slid behind the very steep slopes of this gorge. But, we gathered our gear and started hiking the narrow trail. The canyon was ours alone, and it is rare when we release the dogs. The immediate gratitude, flashed across their faces, as their eyes widened with surprise. They were off on a run, to take long, luxurious sniffs of EVERYTHING! We knew they would have a contented sleep, come evening, and so would we.

This canyon has many rocky exposed outcrops, that are laden with large and small diameter caves with worn entries. It looked like they provided fabulous cover for wildlife. However, the precipitous slopes quelled a closer inspection of these caves.  The climb up to them looked almost vertical!

• 

• 

I did find two tracks, of what I suspect is from a bear, along our path, but we did not see any mammals.

Most of the birds we saw were birds-of-prey. A large female Cooper’s Hawk made quick work crossing our small patch of sky.

A Golden Eagle sailed past the stark, rocky outcrops on wide brown wings.

A lone Northern Harrier raised her wings and lifted from the mountain’s flank and gained altitude quickly, passing over the mountain’s top.

We watched a wandering troop of songbirds: juncos, chickadees, and song sparrows.

But, it was the sweet, cascading song of a canyon wren, that turned my head. These birds are most often heard but not often seen. With a bit of patience however, the bird will eventually pop up on a prominent perch for a quick look around or to echo his song, off the hills of the canyon. Within a few minutes I found the small rusty-brown bird with sprinkles of spangles in salt and pepper colors, dashed across its head and shoulders, and a shock of white at its throat.

He threw back his head, with beak open wide and belt out with spectacular volume, his sweet, cascading, slurred whistles, that slow and finish with trills.

The female may join him in a duet, but her song is shorter and lacks rich quality of her mate. That long curved bill serves as a fabulous tool to extricate all manner of insects and spiders from within the cracks and crevices of their rocky world.

They are nimble and quick as they climb up, over, down and across the crags aided by a low center of gravity, short strong legs and sharp claws. The pairs stay together on territory all year, with some moving to lower elevations or into thicker brush for cover during winter. Interestingly canyon wrens are not known to drink water, but instead gather all the liquid it needs through consumption of invertebrate prey.

Deep within my canyon wren bubble, I startled when a quick lick brushed my hand. It was Joey, checking in, and followed by my husband, Wayne, and Roo. The wind was right on cue and blew cold and swift reminding me it is but still winter. Our time in the canyon came to close, with one parting gift, a name: Dog Rock Gorge.

Collectively, we invite you to join us as supporting members of our local North Central Washington Audubon Society chapter. There are many ways to become a conservation volunteer. The Audubon Society offers opportunities to individuals to advocate for conservation issues at the local, state, and national level. As we continue to stay at home during the pandemic, consider advocating for state and national policies that protect birds and habitats.

This month, during the 2021 Legislative session, you can support Audubon Washington’s policy priorities to protect critical investments in important bird habitat while combating climate change Help support WA Audubon’s legislative agenda. You can also track bills with the most current information by signing up for Washington Audubon’s Weekly Legislative Updates and keep track of bills in our Legislative Tracker.

Nationally, Audubon Society invites you to send a public comment supporting restoring protections for birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The deadline to comment is Monday, March 1. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has delayed implementing the Trump administration’s proposaled rules that would have greatly reduce protections within the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Just days before a devastating new rule was to go into effect, the Biden administration announced it was reassessing the law’s rollback and its protections for birds.