Subject: [Tweeters] Ridgefield NWR
Date: Aug 8 18:09:20 2005
From: Paul Webster - paul.webster at comcast.net
Hi Tweets,
Georgia Conti, Barbara, and I left Seattle Sunday morning at 6:30 in a light overcast that turned into a mild drizzle at points as we drove south to Ridgefield NWR, located just north of Vancouver at Exit 14 from Interstate 5. We started in the Carty Unit about 9:30, first walking across the field by Carty Lake, then going north on the Oaks to Wetlands Trail. The temps started in the mid 60s early, then in the mid-to-upper 80s by mid-afternoon, but a nice breeze made it a wonderful day to be outdoors.
The Carty Unit offers the greatest diversity of habitat on the refuge, with grassy bottomlands, and oak-covered uplands giving way to coniferous woodlands to the north. Above the grassy fields we picked up Violet-green, Cliff, and Barn Swallows with a sprinkling of Purple Martins and Vaux's Swifts. On Carty Lake we saw a few Mallards and around twenty Wood Ducks, and found a Common Yellowthroat in lakeside willows. We did a double-take upon spotting a lone Black Tern on a piling in the lake, an unusual bird for Clark County, apparently, though Georgia remembered someone had reported seeing it here recently. A Bald Eagle swoping low over several lakes scared up a large number of ducks, though the Great Blue Herons and several Great Egrets we saw didn't seem greatly bothered.
In the Oaks we had Western Scrub Jays, Mourning Doves, Northern Flicker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Hutton's Vireo, and as we walked north toward the lowlands and conifers, Steller's Jay, Western Wood-Pewee, Pacific Slope Flycatcher, Orange-crowned Warbler, and heard a Red-breasted Nuthatch twice on the far side of the railroad tracks.
We ate a sandwich about 1 p.m. on the way to the River S Unit, and took the auto tour route, making several stops to check out the marshes. We clapped and laughed for a rail, but instead harvested the attention of an American Bittern. This route offered us good views of male ducks in eclipse plumage, and a distant flock of 18 Dowitchers (presumably Long-billed), two Lesser Yellowlegs, and six Greaters. We stopped to bird in and around the groves of cottonwood and willow en route. There was a noisy and insistent young Cowbird begging food from its harried-looking Pewee foster-parent, we saw Black-capped Chickadees, a lone Brown Creeper, a Red-eyed Vireo, and lots of American Goldfinches working on the roadside thistles. We walked the Kiwa Trail and scared up two Wilson's Snipe, but 5 Least Sandpipers, one hopping about on its one remaining leg, kept feeding near the water. Overhead, Turkey Vultures soared, Red-tailed Hawks kited in the strong breeze, and some 20 Vaux's Swifts made flight look effortless.
We left the refuge at about 4:15 pm, having seen 61 species. It had been a pleasant day that reminded us that this fine birding area isn't too far for a day excursion from Seattle.
Species seen:
Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
American Bittern
Wood Duck
Green-winged Teal
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
American Coot
Wilson's Snipe
Long-billed Dowitcher
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
California Gull
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Vaux's Swift
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Western Wood-Pewee
Willow Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Purple Martin
Violet-green Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cedar Waxwing
American Robin
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
European Starling
Hutton's Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Orange-crowned Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Black-headed Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow