.......................This report is a little late, as my mouse "died"
Monday, and I had to wait till a new one was purchased today.
.......................Anyway, hiked the auto trail and Kiwa Trail at the
River-S Unit of RNWR north of Vanc. Wash.
.......................Water was being pumped in Sun. aft. so some of the
wetlands had water in them. Only the usual year-round resident ducks
were seen---Widgeons and other winter migrants not arrived yet. 8
smaller Canada Geese were seen by a wetland, along with a flock of
Sandhill Cranes flying over to the SE. part of the refuge. A large flock
of geese flew south over towards the west, but too far off to see if
Canada's or White-fronted.
.......................Songbirds of interest and noted were:
Yellow-rumped Warbler(1);Chestnut backed and Black-capped Chickadees;
Goldfinches; Fox Sparrows; Cedar Waxwings; No. Flicker; Cliff
Swallows---along with a Red-tailed Hawk and 2 Harrier Hawks; 3 Turkey
Vultures, and a Horned Owl. 2 juvenile Double-crested Cormorants, along
with a sizable flock of what appeared to be long-billed Dowitchers ( a
Harrier Hawk spooked then all off before I could get the spotting scope
set up).
.......................Pretty quiet in general--migrations seem late this
year, not boding good for the duck and geese hunters for the approaching
hunting seasons in the next few weeks.
........................Finally, 8 Painted Turtles were seen sunning
themselves at several locations.

Gerald Hamilton
Brush Prairie, Wash.
gerald at e-z.net