I made a short stop at the Ridgefield River S Unit on my way to check
out plants at Bird's English Nursery. I was fortunate to find a Palm
Warbler on the autoroute in the area of trees that makes the road wander
about. This is just past the new 11/2 mile walking trail. The bird was
pecking about in the middle of the road aproximately 40 ft. before the main
left bend that heads to the lakes again. The warbler was only 15 feet in
front of the car and I had about 4 minutes of observing the male in breeding
plumage. What a great looking bird.
Total birds seen in the two hours of travel and walking the new trail
was 55. Birds of interest were Black-necked Stint, Yellow-head Blackbird,
both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. Sora, Virginia Rail and American
Bittern. The last three were actually seen not just heard.
Cheers,

Henry Gilmore
Vancouver, WA
hgilmore at qwest.net