Tweeters,

Ellen and I visited several areas in southwestern Washington and have some
news to pass on.

March 11. Julia Hansen Butler NWR ~ 20 miles west of Kelso on SR4. This is a
beautiful place! This refuge was established in 1972 specifically to
protect and manage the endangered Columbian White-tailed Deer, formerly
widespread and common along river valleys in western Oregon and Washington.
By the 1930s, they were thought to be extinct, due to overhunting and loss
of habitat. Fortunately, remnant populations were discovered here and near
Roseburg in Oregon. Today, about 300 deer live on the refuge and another
300-400 on nearby, private lands. To visit the refuge, continue west from
Cathlamet on SR4 to Steamboat Slough Road (2.0 miles). Turn left and begin a
7.2-mile loop which encircles the refuge, ending on SR4 2.0 miles west of
the starting point on Brooks Slough Road. A variety of beautiful scenes in
a quiet and peaceful setting await you here.Habitats encountered, include
tideland Sitka Spruce forest, riparian woodland, both tidal and freshwater
wetlands, and open fields. Because of the variety of habitats, birds are
diverse and abundant. Especially abundant were various subspecies of Canada
Geese, and other waterfowl. Bald Eagles were conspicuous, as are Red-tailed
Hawks. We noted one White-tailed Kites hunting the rank grasslands; on
making a catch, it flew south into a grove of spruce, yelping a piercing
"Peee!...Peee!" which I interpret as a rite of breeding behavior (courtship
feeding?). The riparian woodlands were full of the usual assortment of
passerines attracted to wet forest habitats, including Rufous Hummingbirds
and many Ruby-crownedKinglets. Birding would have been memorable here
regardless of the list on account of the sparse traffic amidst so beautiful
a landscape.

March 12. Steigerwald NWR. We noted 1 Ross's Goose amongst several thousand
small Canada Geese, including at least one "Aleutian" bird. This was from
Milepost 18 on SR14. Wilson Cady heard of another observer who saw the
Ross's Goose, also. He confirmed presence of the Aleutian by a neck band,
stating "The best identifying mark that I found was a white with blue
numbers neck collar on one bird."

March 12. Beacon Rock State Park. This is a great hike, with guardrails to
the summit...and, what a view! We also were privileged to watch the resident
Peregrines sail and flap by at eyebal level, the sharp-eyed tiercel craning
his head sideways to check us out, as we rested on the trail in the trees.
Also present on this towering 840' monolith (a volcanic plug) was a singing
Canyon Wren, according to Wilson, Skamania Counties 2nd record for this
Eastern Washington species.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato Wa
steppie at nwinfo.net