Hello Tweets,

Today after birding with Ken Knittle at the River S Unit of the Ridgefield NWR in Clark Co. we made a few stops on our way home including along Dike Rd. near Woodland and in the Independence area of extreme southwest Thurston Co./northern Lewis Co. We ended our day along Wagner Rd. near the Meadows area in Thurston/Lewis Cos. Our main highlight of the day was the lingering adult RED-SHOULDERED HAWK along Independence Rd.,which made a excellent showing for 5 birders between 2pm-3:30pm,including 2 birders from Yakima. The bird remained very active flying back and forth across Impendence Rd. just south of Van Dyke Rd. and along nearby Backman Rd. The weather was superb after a brief rainshower when the sun came out allowing great scoping views of the bird perched in both deciduous and coniferous trees. At 3pm the bird flew west across Independence Rd. and settled into thick trees in a flooded area,then was later harassed by an adult Red-tailed Hawk for the remainder of the observations,where it was observed in both Lewis and Thurston Cos. It was definitely a treat for all of us to watch this excellent example of a crisp adult Red-shouldered Hawk and the bird seemed to have a set routine staying in a somewhat limited area. Like Marv Breece stated we also thank George Gerdts for finding this great bird and hope other birders may get to see it! Flooded areas have declined greatly with passable roads compared to previous days,when roads were blocked by recent heavy rains.

Before arriving at the Red-shouldered Hawk location this afternoon we located the lingering adult WHITE-TAILED KITE at MP 9 along Lincoln Creek Rd. in Lewis Co.,as reported my many observers.

Our last stop of the day was made along Wagner Rd.,where we relocated the PRAIRIE FALCON perched atop a utility pole in a large field just south of the end of Wagner Rd.(Thurston Co.). We initially were told of the bird's presence while watching the Red-shouldered Hawk by Kristin Stewart,who observed the bird atop the large snag along this road earlier in the day. She later joined us,as we watched the bird preening atop the pole at 4:30pm. This was great bird to end our day and trip and thanks also to Paul Hicks for finding the bird and others that followed by their current reports.


Earlier in the day Ken Knittle joined us by birding the River S Unit of the Ridgefield NWR between 9:45am-11am,where birding was somewhat slow except for good numbers of various waterfowl species. Our main notable species along this driving route included the following:

2,000+ Cackling Geese(including one bird of the Taverner's subspecies)
162+ Tundra Swans
85 Ruddy Ducks
8 Northern Harriers
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 adult "HARLAN'S"Red-tailed Hawk
6 Am.Kestrels
110 Long-billed Dowitchers
10 Wilson's Snipe
2 White-breasted Nuthatches
2 Yellow-rumped Warblers
3 Savannah Sparrows
4 Lincoln's Sparrows
3 Purple Finches
10+ Pine Siskins(amongst a flock of 50+ Am.Goldfinches)


After departing with Ken we made a stop along Dike Rd. near Woodland,where our main highlight from this location was a single PELAGIC CORMORANT observed just south of Caples Rd.,as we scoped the Columbia River from Dike Rd. The bird was observed swimming and diving upstream in the current on both the Oregon and Washington,so this would represent a 1st Cowlitz Co. record! The bird remained by itself in the Columbia River although there were 5 Double-crested Cormorants nearby strictly on the Oregon side and large chucks of floating debris/driftwood were noted floating downstream. 2 Red-throated Loons,14 Western Grebes and a mixed scaup flock were also noted at this same location.
This record of Pelagic Cormorant adds to the recent sighting of this species noted further upstream along the Columbia River near Portland by Steve Shunk,as reported yesterday onto OBOL. Before heading northward we also observed 400+ Sandhill Cranes and 15 Tundra Swans along Dike Rd. just south of Caples Rd.


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit at worldnet.att.net