This report was mailed for Kerry Turley by http://birdnotes.net

Date: April 27, 2003
Location: Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge, Yakima County, Washington


I only had a couple of hours to spend at the refuge today, but could
not pass up the beautiful morning. I had 48 species from the
observation platform and refuge visitors center.

May 10th there will be an open house at the refuge and will have
guided trips into the normally closed sections of the refuge. This
would be a great time to get aquainted with the Toppenish National
Wildlife Refuge (and maybe see nesting Wilson's Phalarope).

Birds seen (in taxonomic order):

Pied-billed Grebe
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture [1]
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-Winged Teal
Redhead
Bufflehead
Bald Eagle [2]
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel [3]
Ring-necked Pheasant
California Quail
American Coot
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
Common Snipe
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl [4]
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Black-billed Magpie
Common Raven
Cliff Swallow [5]
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch

Footnotes:

[1] 1 - flying over Toppenish Creek at Hwy 97 (observation deck)
[2] 1 - immature at west end of refuge
[3] 1 - Northeast boundry.
[4] 1 - Adult near nest 2 - downy owlets in nest
[5] very busy nest building at new Hwy 97 bridge over Toppenish
Creek.

Total number of species seen: 50