Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I birded in Cowlitz and Wahkiakum Cos., mainly in search
of a few specialty species, including the CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, which is
still present and was photographed for documentation during our visit to
Dike Access Rd. at 8:20am-9:20am along the west portion of Caples
Road(accessed from Dike Road)west of Woodland in Cowlitz Co. The bird was
observed in a small roaming sparrow flock north of Caples Road, where the
bird had been originally observed since November 24th, but the bird was
encountered much further north along a ditch canal, which is accessed from
Caples Road, and the bird would fly and rest continuously along the
vegetated ditch with other sparrows, as well as forage on the south side of
Caples Road,immediately south of the ditch at the base of the continuing
ditch. It appears the bird roams the bramble patches in close association
with the ditch canal, but seems to associate completely with other sparrows,
as noted in our two observation dates of this bird, and should remain
through the winter with some effort and "pishing" , which may be required in
locating the bird, but the bird can be visible directly from Caples Road, if
the sparrow flock it is associating with is present. Our other highlight
along Dike Access Rd. was the PRAIRIE FALCON, originally found by Bill Tweit
on the 10th, then later observed by Ryan Shaw and others, which was
immediately located upon our arrival at 8am directly perched atop a
telephone pole along Dike Access Rd., just west of the Dike Access Rd. Exit
and I-5. The bird was observed twice during our visit to Dike Access Rd.,
and also photographed for documentation, but we were unable to relocate the
immature Gyrfalcon reported by Ken Knittle earlier in the week.

The weather conditions for the day consisted of mostly cloudy skies, with
some partial clearing early, as we checked a few birding locations in two
counties. Our first species of the day was 15 Tundra Swans observed at
7:45am from I-5 in flooded area east of I-5 between MP 31 and 32, south of
the Kalama River. Other notable highlights along the Dike Access Rd. complex
during our visit included:

38 Sandhill Cranes
1 Rough-legged Hawk
1 Am.Kestrel
28 Savannah Sparrows(personal high count for time of year at location)
12 Lincoln's Sparrows
1 SWAMP SPARROW
1 tan-striped White-throated Sparrow
38 Western Meadowlarks

Next, we birded Juliet Butler Hansen NWR in Wahkiakum Co.(west of
Cathlamet), mainly in search of the Black Phoebe, which we were unable to
relocate during our entire visit to the refuge from 10:55am-2pm. It is very
possible that the bird has moved on, or has chosen another area to forage,
but the bird could still be in the area. We were able to encounter a few
highlights during a drive along Steamboat Slough Road, which loops back to
Hwy.4 west of the refuge headquarters.
Most notable highlights during our visit at this location included:

4 White-tailed Kites
1 adult dark-morph Red-tailed Hawk
1 adult "Harlan's" Red-tailed Hawk
1 Am.Kestrel
1 Virginia Rail(heard only)
5 Black-bellied Plovers
4 Western Sandpipers
38 Least Sandpipers
67 Dunlin
2 Herring Gulls
1 adult Thayer's Gull
2 Western Gulls
1 first-winter GLAUCOUS GULL
1 Western Scrub Jay
1 Hermit Thrush
1 Orange-crowned Warbler
1 Townsend's Warbler
2 Lincoln's Sparrows
8 Western Meadowlarks

On our way home we checked the Longview STP along Hwy.4(west of Longview)in
Cowlitz Co., where a single male Canvasback and 9 Ruddy Ducks were among the
highlights, among more common wintering waterfowl species.


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net