Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I birded the Ridgefield/Vancouver Lake area of Clark Co. with most of the time spent at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR with 4 full "loop" drives around with 2 morning visits and 2 afternoon visits,as we searched and studied good numbers of Red-tailed Hawks and Northern Harriers that were observed throughout the day,but were most notable at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR including 35 Red-tailed Hawks and 28+ Northern Harriers with 3 immature Red-tailed Hawks that were photographed at close range near the last portion of the "loop" that were very pale in contrast,showing a complete white breast contrasting to a brown head and brown underparts. One of the immature Red-tailed Hawks that was photographed during our afternoon visit was approached very closely within 5 feet allowing great views with the other birds being observed further away from the road. We also located 2 seperate light-morph ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS during the day at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR,being of an adult and of an immature bird and both birds being photographed on the ground at close range with several nearby raptor that actively hopped around on the ground in search of rodents and other prey with nearby Great Blue Herons. It would be interesting to see any photographs of the previously reported Ferruginous Hawk(s) reported at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR,as there have been at least 4 sightings from different observers recently this fall. Good numbers of Canada Geese consisting mainly of "Cackling"subspecies were noted throughout the day at several locations,as were good numbers of wintering Sandhill Cranes that were ALL observed in flight during the entire day,presumably flying to and from roosting/feeding grounds in the general area.

Throughout the day we observed several highlights away from good numbers of waterfowl and raptors,as the weather cleared soon as we arrived to Ridgefield at 8am,after driving south from Tacoma mostly in dense fog at times. We encountered the most vehicle traffic at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR during our last visit between 2pm-4:30pm,as observers enjoyed good looks at different wildliife including a Coyote and good numbers of various waterfowl species. The lingering BLACK PHOEBE was observed during both of our afternoon drives at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR,as it was very active and occasionally heard calling along the canal between the Kiwa Nature Trail and the Observation Blind at Rest Lake,so perhaps it may winter at this location. A list of our notable highlights for the day at selected locations follows below:

RED-NECKED GREBE
1 at Vancouver Lake

EARED GREBE
1 at Vancouver Lake

Western Grebe
3 at Vancouver Lake

Great Egret
2 at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR
45 along S.R.501 at MP 2.8 south of Vancouver Lake(high count)
2 at Post Office Lake

Tundra Swan
88+ at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR

Greater White-fronted Goose
1 at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR
1 along Lower River Rd. west of Vancouver Lake

CINNAMON TEAL
4(2 pair)at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR

Canvasback
5 at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR

Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 at the River S Unit of Ridegfield NWR

Cooper's Hawk
1 at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK
2 at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR

Dunlin
5 at Post Office Lake

Long-billed Dowitcher
40 at Post Office Lake

Herring Gull
2 at Post Office Lake
4 at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR

Short-eared Owl
2 over the Shillapoo Wildlife Area north of Vancouver Lake

BLACK PHOEBE
1 at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR

BARN SWALLOW
1 over the Shillapoo Wildlife Area

White-breasted Nuthatch
1 at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR

Northern Shrike
1 adult at the Shillapoo Wildlife Area

Lincoln's Sparrow
10 at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR
15 at the Shillapoo Wildlife Area

YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD
1 female along Lower River Rd. south of Post Office Lake(amongst a small mixed blackbird flock)


Good birding,

Ruth nabd Patrick Sullivan
godwit at worldnet.att.net