Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I birded the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR in Clark Co. from 11:30am-2:30pm,as we enjoyed a lovely day by escaping the very dense fog further north with sunny clear skies during our drive to and from Tacoma to Kalama along I-5. On our way home we also birded along the entire Dike Rd.(Dike Access Rd.)west of Woodland in Cowlitz Co. Throughout our entire visit at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR we encountered continuing good numbers of raptors and waterfowl,incliuding very good numbers of Northern Pintails and Tundra Swans among other species that were resting fairly calmly on portions of Rest Lake and flying overhead,despite nearby waterfowl hunting,as we drove the "loop" drive twice and encountered several birders checking the raptors over,as did we that included predominately Red-tailed Hawks and Northern Harriers. We managed to relocate the lingering BLACK PHOEBE along the "loop" drive at the northwest corner of Canvasback Lake,which was heard calling once on our second drive around the loop. We also located a single adult RED-SHOULDERED HAWK and a single Northern Shrike north of the Rest Lake Observation Blind, in which the Red-shouldered Hawk was observed briefly soaring with 3 Red-tailed Hawks and an immature Bald Eagle before flying off alone to the west into very dense stands of Oregon Ash and other vegetation north of the Kiwa Nature Trail, which remained unvocal during the entire visit and sighting. On our way home as mentioned we drove along the entire Dike Rd./Dike Access Rd. between 3pm-4pm and encountered a few noteworthy species that we did not observe at the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR,then on our way home along I-5 north of Kalama noted s ingle Red-breasted Sapsucker flying over and our last species of the day included a single MUTE SWAN(of unknown origin)foraging in a lake northbound along I-5 south of Kelso. A list of our notable highlights for the day at slected locations and times follows below:

Kalama Marina(along the Columbia River),Cowlitz Co. 10:45am

1 adult Thayer's Gull

River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR,Clark Co. 11:30am-2:30pm

284 Tundra Swans
4,800+ Northern Pintails
1 male CINNAMON TEAL
4 Canvasback
73 Ring-necked Ducks(with lesser numbers of Lesser Scaups and Ruddy Ducks)
2 Bald Eagles
15 Northern Harriers
1 adult RED-SHOULDERED HAWK
24 Red-tailed Hawks
1 light-morph Rough-legged Hawk
6 Am.Kestrels
1 Virginia Rail(heard only)
2 Herring Gulls
1 Great Horned Owl
1 BLACK PHOEBE
8 Am.Pipits
1 Northern Shrike
1 Lincoln's Sparrow
8 Western Meadowlarks
9 Purple Finches

Dike Rd./Dike Access Rd.(west of Woodland)Cowlitz Co.(CW) 3pm-4pm

6 Horned Grebes
25 Western Grebes
32 Greater Scaup
3 Northern Harriers
1 adult Cooper's Hawk
8 Red-tailed Hawks
6 Am.Kestrels
1 Wilson's Snipe
1 Short-eared Owl
48+ Am.Pipits
24 Savannah Sparrows
6 Lincoln's Sparrows

I-5 north of Kalama,CW 4:15pm

1 Red-breasted Sapsucker

I-5 at MP 36(northbound)south of Kelso,CW 4:30pm

1 MUTE SWAN


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
godwit at worldnet.att.net