After viewing at the Washougal sewage ponds in the
morning, my mom and I spent the balance of day at
Ridgefield NWR River "S" Unit (~5mi W of I-5 at Exit
14 in Washington;
http://www.fws.gov/ridgefieldrefuges)

NOTE: the refuge gate is now closing at 5pm so get out
by five or be locked in until you can arrange by phone
to get out.

Our best birds among the 41 Ridgefield species were:

BRANT: About 3:30p at the SE corner of Rest Lake in
the grasses E of the lake was the first goose flock we
encountered that was close enough to scan effectively.
WOW! We had a Brant! I would not swear to it, as I
keep pretty messy notes, but I think this is the first
time I have seen BRANT other than at the coast. The
bird was in a flock of about 200 grazing Cackling
Geese.

SHORT-EARED OWL: About 4:15pm or so the Owl show
began (these Owls have been quite cooperative and
active now since at least mid November it seems). Mom
and I were parked on the last leg of the loop on the E
side of the refuge, we were in that major turnout with
the large wooden "Stay in Your Car" sign that is next
to a steel post with a small white "Out of Bounds"
sign. One SHORT-EARED OWL landed on the white sign
and stayed for at least the preferred 30 seconds. It
was long enough for Mom to get it in the binoculars.
Wow! The sign was only 20 feet from the driver's
window of our car. At one point, we saw at least 4
owls in the air at once. We were watching one owl
cruise about 3-4 feet above the grasses when two
others popped up directly under it and one almost hit
it; causing all three Owls to veer off in different
directions. What a Great Spectacle! The owls work
almost the entire E side grass area.

WHITE-TAILED KITE: We had brief views of the bird
soaring and hunting near its usual perch above the
bramble on the E side of the loop road.

RED-SHOULDERED HAWK: This first year bird was in its
usual haunts in the Oregon Ash woodland below the Kiwa
Trail parking lot. I was about half way through the
woodland without seeing it when a Red-tailed Hawk
obliged by flying into the woodland, presumably too
close to the RED-SHOULDERED which then called loudly
for a few seconds, allowing me to find it when it
flew. It changed perches a few times and afforded
good views.

HARLAN'S RED-TAILED HAWK: Today we only had a brief,
but close view of this Hawk. It has been hanging
around at Ridgefield foe at least a few weeks now I
believe.

POWER OF THE BALD EAGLE: A sub adult BALD EAGLE
strafed the flooded fields just to the E of Rest Lake
before the road leaves the lake for good. It made
several turns to go after any duck that did not get
out of the water. It nearly had a Shoveler, which
narrowly escaped by diving and then flying off before
the Eagle could adjust and make a better pass. After
this water attack failed, it went after the grazing
Cackling Geese and Oh The Noise (Not Me! Not Me!) as
2,000 or more Cacklers all got off the field and into
the air. The Eagle kept them all a flutter for at
least a couple of minutes before moving over Rest
Lake, where it began getting more ducks and geese
aloft. What a Show!


For a cold day it was pretty HOT.


Complete Species List for the day:

Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
BRANT
Tundra Swan
Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Ring-necked Duck
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
WHITE-TAILED KITE
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK
Red-tailed Hawk (+ 1 HARLAN'S)
American Kestrel
American Coot
Gull (Species)
Short-eared Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Western Scrub-Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln?s Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird


Bill Clemons
SW of Portland in Mtn Park
Willclemons AT Yahoo.com



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