I took a trip today with four other birders from Olympia to Ridgefield and then along the Columbia river to Catherine Creek nature area.

Briefly, the highlights at Ridgefield were a white-breasted nuthatch, ruddy ducks in breeding plummage, tree swallows, and canvasbacks.

At Catherine Creek we observed 9 distinct Lewis' woodpeckers, though we believe there were more there that we could not observe all in one pass. They were spending a great deal of time flying in and out of the Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana) trees in the area.

A total of 49 species for the day. There were also several native prairie species that were flowering along the Catherine Creek trail. (Lomatium, Fritillaria, Saxifrage, etc).

Jim Lynch
Olympia WA
tarj1a1 at comcast.net