A friendly warning--the fine for getting out of your car in an unauthorized
spot on the Ridgefield Auto Route is 75 dollars. One birder got a warning
about a week ago. Be careful and respectful--it is supposed to be nice (and
a good excuse to get a car mount for the scope.

Ray Korpi, PhD
rkorpi at clark.edu
Portland, OR/Clark College, Vancouver WA
President, Oregon Field Ornithologists


-----Original Message-----
From: Russell Link [mailto:linkrel at dfw.wa.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 1999 2:16 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Weekender


>From The Weekender
WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
http://www.wa.gov/wdfw

The Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge near Vancouver,WA
has just opened a new 4-mile auto-only tour route, complete
with observation areas and interpretative signs for people
wishing to watch birds. Birds become more accustomed to
vehicles than they do people so Ridgefield may offer more
opportunities to see ducks, geese, sandhill cranes and other
species. Call the refuge at (360) 887-4106 for more
information.

November is the prime season to watch hawks and eagles
migrate south. Good sites to observe bald eagles include: the
Long Lake Dam Campground on the Spokane River near
Spokane; Birch Bay State Park north of Bellingham and the
Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery (509) 538-2755.
The Columbia Gorge is a good place to spot eagles and
hawks. The Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge near Cheney
(509) 235-44723 and Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, near
Othello (509) 488-2668, offer good opportunities to see
waterfowl and other migratory species. Many species also fly
south along the coast. Try the Willapa National Wildlife
Refuge near Ilwaco (360) 484-3482, Bowerman Basin (360)
532-6237 and other ocean spots to see loons, pelicans and
other waterfowl moving south.

The Eurasian dotterel is the bird making headlines at Ocean
Shores. Be sure to take binoculars so it can be distinguished
from the black-bellied plovers and Pacific golden-plovers with
which it usually is found. The dotterel, which normally migrate
between Siberia and North Africa and the Middle East, usually
can be found on the tideflats on either side of the Damon
Point Road at the southeastern tip of the Ocean Shores
Peninsula. Ask local birdwatchers (folks with binoculars and
telescopes) to help spot the unusual visitor.

In the Puget Sound area, the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge north
of Olympia (360) 753-9467, Birch Bay State Park north of
Bellingham, the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge near
Sequim and Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend offer
viewing opportunities. State park information is available by
calling 1-800-233-0321. Good spots to see mallard, wigeon,
gadwall, bufflehead, barrow's goldeneye and other ducks
include Capitol Lake in Olympia and Kayak Point Regional
Park, which is north of Everett.

Russell Link
Linkrel at dfw.wa.gov