I'm happy to say that the Vermilion Flycatcher is still around at
Ridgefield NWr as of about 340 pm today, 1-10-96. The 55 degree windless
weather caused the wife an me to want to take a hike, so we went out for
one more try. As we mucked toward the bridge, my wife said, "Honey,
there's a little bird at the tip of that tree." It flew, and I ran. The
vermilion was in about the same place as advertised by many: for a half
hour from 3 to 330, it sat at the top of the tree just past the
blackberry patch (just west of the patch) along the fenceline just past
the bridge. Again, fade off to the left and take the smaller trail by
the outhouses and down the slippery, steep, muddy slope.
The bird was readily approachable. I stay about 20 yards from it
with the sun behind me. It is a very nice adult female as others have
described, and caught many insects while we were there (indeed, there
seems to have been another big hatch in the last few days as we ate as
many bugs as the bird!). The bird stayed at the very top of the small
tree while we were there. After about half an hour of hunting from a
perch which it had obviously been at for a while (lots of wash on several
higher branches), the bird started moving west along the fence line. It
sat on one snag along then fence, then another, and kept moving west over
the water under the fence. I lost track of it after a few minutes.
Also around were 6 long-billed dowitchers, 10 swans, many
pintails, mallards, Canada Geese, and GBHs. Gadwall and Green-winged
Teal were also present. The White-breasted Nuthatches continue to be
found in the oaks along the ridge by the bridge. If you haven't seen the
vermilion, you might consdier trying this weekend--if its not there,
there is a lot more to see. BTW, no red-shouldered hawk was seen, but we
really didn't wander to far off the gravel.. Boots highly recommended. RK

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Ray Korpi "Upstream,
Hm: Portland, OR a cardinal perches
Wk: Clark College on the tip of a tamarack sawyer
Vancouver, WA like an ornament on the hood
rkorpi at clark.edu of the Kaiser's most influential car."
--William Kloefkorn, from
_Platte_Valley_Homestead_, #4