Hello Tweets,

Today Vicki Biltz, and my mother and I birded in portions of Clark, Cowlitz,
and Wahkiakum Cos. taking advantage of the great weather and warming
temperatures, as we encountered several notable highlights. Our main
highlight was 3 TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS(2 immature males, 1 adult male)at MP
6.2 along Lower River Rd. west of Vancouver Lake. The Tricolored Blackbirds
were well observed in quality viewing conditions foraging amongst a rather
large blackbird flock in a cattle pasture west of the road consisting of
420-450+ Brewer's Blackbirds,47 Brown-headed Cowbirds, and 13 Red-winged
Blackbirds with European Starlings also present in this flock. The birds
were viewed well for about 20 minutes during our visit at 8:45am until the
flock dispersed into nearby Red Alder and Black Cottonwood trees along the
Columbia River nearby, then part of the flock flew to the east to another
large field, so this winter feeding flock may be difficult to see at times
and may move around and are most likely the same individual birds noted by
Steve Mlodinow and Ryan Shaw on the 2nd of February. The immature males were
most notable compared to a few nearby immature and female Red-winged
Blackbirds by the overall darker color similiar to a female Tricolored
Blackbird, BUT with a dark red shouldered patch bordered by a thinner,longer
obvious white patch. The immature males also lacked any buffy/rust fringes
in the back and wing feathers, but more obvious pale gray tips to the outer
fringes on the back. The single adult male was nearly all black with
extremely distant faint paleness to the feather fringes on the back, with a
noticeable dark red and white shoulder patch, being much deeper than nearby
Red-winged Blackbirds, which show more brighter tones overall on the
shoulder patch. The bill was also noticeably shorter, and more pointed in
all three birds, but not a significant feature

Our other highlights specifically noted at the River S Unit of the
Ridgefield NWR consisted of a ROSS' GOOSE amongst a very large flock of
"Cackling"Canada Geese, and 1 pair of BLUE-WINGED TEAL amongst 12 Cinnamon
Teal(6 males, 6 females), all being observed at Rest Lake. The Ross' Goose
was our second personal record of the season, so more may occur at other
western WA locations. The Blue-winged Teal were our personal firsts' for
winter in WA, which may have overwintered with the Cinnamon Teal, but early
spring arrival is possible too.

Our day started out at the Vancouver Lake area, then north to the River S
and Carty Unit's of the Ridgefield NWR continuing north to Wooodland after
1:30pm along Dike and Dike Access Rds.(including gull watching along the
Lewis River, with increased gull activity due to smelt runs). Our final stop
of the day was made at the Juliet Butler Hansen NWR in Wahkiakum Co., where
the BLACK PHOEBE was again noted behind the refuge headquarters during our
visit at 3:45pm. Throughout the day good to high numbers of Tundra
Swans,"Cackling"Canada Geese, Northern Pintail, and Red-tailed Hawks and
Am.Kestrels were noted with the first three previous species noted
specificially at the River S Unit of the Ridgefield NWR. Our biggest
surprise was very minimal sparrow flocks present throughout the day. A list
of our notable highlights throughout the day follows at selected locations
at times:

Lower River Rd.,(west of Vancounver Lake)Clark Co.(CK) 8:40am-9:30am

54 Sandhill Cranes
1 Pileated Woodpecker
18 Western Meadowlarks
47 Brown-headed Cowbirds

Vancouver Lake,CK 9:45am

3 Eared Grebes(personal high count for location)
17 Western Grebes
4 Trumpeter Swans
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 Cooper's Hawk
1 Am.Kestrel

River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR,CK 10:30am-12:30pm

1 Great Egret
550-600+ Tundra Swans
1 ROSS' GOOSE
17 "Dusky"Canada Geese
1 piar of BLUE-WINGED TEAL
12 Cinnamon Teal
1 pair of Eurasian Wigeon
82 Ruddy Ducks
1 Cooper's Hawk
1 Am.Kestrel
1 Taige Merlin
44+ Sandhill Cranes
3 Dunlin
16 Long-billed Dowitchers
17 Tree Swallows
8 Barn Swallows
42 Yellow-rumped Warblers
17 Western Meadowlarks

Carty Unit of Ridgefield NWR,CK 12:45pm-1pm

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
7 Tree Swallows
2 Barn Swallows
2 White-breasted Nuthatches
14 Cedar Waxwings
2 Lincoln's Sparrows

Dike Access Rd. complex,west of Woodland,Cowlitz Co. 1:30pm-2:45pm

19 Great Egrets
1 Rough-legged Hawk
12 Am.Kestrels
48+ Herring Gulls
4 Thayer's Gulls(3 first-year birds, 1 adult)
2 Western Gulls(1 adult, 1 first-year bird)
1 second-year GLAUCOUS GULL
1 Lincoln's Sparrow

Juliet Butler Hansen NWR,Wahkiakum Co. 3:45pm-4:30pm

5 "Dusky"Canada Geese
3 White-tailed Kites
1 Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk
2 Am.Kestrels
5 Common Snipe
1 BLACK PHOEBE
3 Tree Swallows


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net