Subject: [Tweeters] Ridgefield NWR/Woodland
Date: Nov 25 20:32:23 2006
From: David Hayden - dtvhm at nwrain.com
Sherry and I took advantage of this sunny day and visited the River 'S'
unit of Ridgefield NWR and then later, the dike access at Woodland.
Most of the waterfowl were resting on Rest Lake, and we managed to find
some nice birds for the day, plus we watched some bird hunting behavoir
as well. There were alot of raptors about. Red-tailed Hawks and
Northern Harriers seemed to dominate the area. Also there were some
American Kestrels about. We watched one kestrel take a mouse from its
perch, drop down to the grass, stash the mouse, and then return back to
its perch. We also saw a Great Blue Heron lunge bill first into the
grass, and lay completely out flat. It came up with a nice vole
struggling in its bill. The last bird that we saw hunting was an
American Bittern. It would raise its head up, stretch out the neck and
sway back and forth, as if it was imitating grass and reeds swaying in
the wind. We watched it catch 4 tree frogs in less than five minutes.
Here are a few of the other birds seen at Ridgefield;
Tundra Swan
Cinnamon Teal -3 (1 male and 2 females)
Canvasback - 2
Ruddy Duck
Great Egret - 6
Sandhill Crane - 17
Long-billed Dowitcher
Greater Yellowlegs
White-breasted Nuthatch - 2
Savannah Sparrow - 2
At Woodland, once again Red-tailed Hawks and Northern Harriers dominated
the seen. We did manage to find a single Rough-legged Hawk. Also seen in
the area were;
Lesser Scaup - 150+ (nice floatilla in the river)
Great Egret - 27 (most on Whalen Rd.)
Sandhill Crane - 100+
Dave Hayden
dtvhm at nwrain.com
Centralia WA