This afternoon I birded Ridgefield NWR from 4:30p-7:15p. Lots of birds have
moved on and I also added some new ones. Here are some of the highlights:

The woods heading down into the refuge had 3 Western Wood-Pewees, 1
Hammond's Flycatcher, 1 Pacific-slope Flycatcher, 1 Hermit Thrush, 1 Western
Tanager, 3 Black-headed Grosbeaks, 1 Bullock's Oriole, 1 Purple Finch, and 2
Pine Siskins.

The first half of the loop to the photo blind I had 1 Great Egret, 1
Chipping Sparrow, plus lots of Blue-winged Teal have moved in. Seems like
the Yellow-headed Blackbirds have become even more common as they had many
new territories staked out today than I have not noticed in the past.

At the photo blind Larry Heinz stopped briefly. He had just seen the Common
Grackle in Yakima. We watched as a Bittern flew from one clump of grass to
another. It was doing a 'flutter type flight' with shallow wing beats the
first time then it flew again and acted normal. The bird was very vocal as
well. Other birds seen at the photo blind were 1 Yellow Warbler, 1
White-breasted Nuthatch, only 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler where there were 100's
12 days before, 1 Western Wood-Pewee, lots of House Wrens, and 1 remaining
Green-winged Teal and 1 female Bufflehead.

The most southern part of the loop looking toward the photo blind was one
BLACK TERN. Makes one wonder if it will hang around like last year. A
little farther where I always find shorebirds at the last water south of the
road was very rewarding with 1 Semipalmated Plover, 5 Wilson's Phalarope, 3
Greater Yellowlegs, 3 Least Sandpipers, 1 Spotted Sandpiper, and a couple of
Killdeer.

Just before completeing the loop there were over 85 plus American Godlfinch
in one large flock. They were feeding on grass seed heads. Was amased that
so many were still in the flock mode and not setting up territories
somewhere else. Total species seen today was 75.

Ken Knittle, Vancouver, WA
washingtonbirder at hotmail.com



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