On Saturday Sherry and I checked a couple of locations in Longview on
our way to do some
Christmas shopping. We first stopped at Lake Sacajewea. We walked down
to the lake, and amazingly
we had gulls, ducks, and doves fly in from everywhere. Even a couple of
coots came running out of
the water. We did have a bag with us, so all these birds assumed it was
feeding time, including
2 Chinese Geese. It was cute at first to have these 2 giant geese come
up to us, but that all
changed in a hurry. They were not getting fed, so they started pecking
at our legs, then it
turned into biting, and then they started wing flapping at us. It took
just one hit from the wing
to bruise up my lower outer leg pretty bad. Sherry also received some
bite bruises as well.
Needless to say, we left in a hurry, and the 2 geese are still at large
to assault the next
people that come by with a bag.
On a brighter note, we drove around through the Willow Grove area, which
is at the west end of
Longview. We had;

many American Kestrels
2 Scrub Jay
8 Black Bellied Plovers
12 Wilson's Snipe
40+ Dunlin
6 Swans (probablyTtundra)
2 White-tailed Kites.



Today (Sunday), I ventured down to the end of Goodrich Rd. here in
Centralia and then over to
Meadows Rd., and had a pretty darn good day. I also walked the new trail
along the river as
well. Really nice, and you cannot walk down the roads that go into the
fields. That is private
property. At the pond at the end of Goodrich, I watched a pair of Bald
Eagles working in tandem
to catch a mallard. The eagles would fly by and try to grab the mallard.
Each eagle would come
in and take its turn until the mallard was done for, and then it was
easy pickings.
Some of the birds seen here today are;

2 Trumpeter Swans
6 Tundra Swans
2 Snow Geese (possibly a 3rd)
Lesser Scaup - 2
Ruddy Duck - 2
Horned Grebe - 1
lots of Common Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, Green-winged Teal, Shovelers,
Pintails, and Mallards
a few American Wigeon and Ring-necked Ducks
1 Peregrine Falcon
2 American Kestrels
1 Northern Harrier
1 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Western Sandpiper
300+ Dunlin
100+ Black Bellied Plover
Pine Siskins
American Goldfinches
Golden-crowned Sparrows
1 Fox Sparrow

The new trail starts at the end of Goodrich Rd. Walk the road to the red
barn and the trail
starts there. Remember not to walk into the fields or on any of the
roads that go into the
fields. That's private property. The trail currently goes north to
about the Thurston County
line and south into the woods.

Dave Hayden
Centralia, WA
dtvhm at nwrain.com