This weekend Matt Dufort and I birded our way through Southwestern Washington stopping at a few selected sites in Thurston, Lewis, Cowlitz, Clark, and Wahkiakum counties. We made stops at Nisqually NWR and Scatter Creek Wildlife area in Thurston county; Goodrich Ponds, Hanafard Valley, and Lewis and Clark State Park in Lewis county; Seaquest State Park, Woodland Bottoms, and Kelso in Cowlitz county, Ridgefield NWR in Clark county, and Julia Butler Hansen NWR, Puget Island, and County Line Park in Wahkiahum county.

Saturday the weather started out raining lightly and got worse until it was just a steady rain, but the birding was good, especially at the Ridgefield NWR. Sunday the weather was much better but the birding seemed to be a bit slower. Highlights of the trip included:

GREAT EGRET - 1 at River "S" Unit Ridgefield NWR and 2 at Woodland Bottoms

AMERICAN BITTERN - 1 heard at Ridgefield NWR

ROSS'S GOOSE - Ridgefield NWR - (glad this bird was still hanging around)

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE - 2 in Hanaford Valley

EURASIAN WIGEON - 1 at Nisqually NWR

CINNAMON TEAL - Ridgefield NWR, Nisqually NWR, and Hanaford Valley

REDHEAD - Ridgefield NWR and in some ponds along Hwy 4 west of Kelso

SORA - 1 heard at Ridgefield NWR

VIRGINIA RAIL - Hanaford Valley

LESSER YELLOWLEGS - Goodrich Ponds and Ridgefield NWR

SOLITARY SANDPIPER - 2 still a small pond along Goodrich Road, and 1 at Ridgefield NWR

BAND-TAILED PIGEON - Several near Julia Butler Hansen NWR

PURPLE MARTIN - 3 at Ridgefield NWR

AMERICAN PIPIT - Goodrich Ponds

ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER - Ridgefield NWR (Carty Unit), Nisqually NWR, and Julia Butler Hansen NWR

BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER - Lewis and Clark State Park, and a few heard at Julia Butler Hansen NWR

WILSON'S WARBLER - 1 heard at Julia Butler Hansen NWR

CHIPPING SPARROW - Scatter Creek WMA

FOX SPARROW - Julia Butler Hansen NWR

LINCOLN'S SPARROW - Ridgefield NWR and Julia Butler Hansen NWR

YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD - Ridgefield NWR

Cheers and Good Birding;



Michael Fleming

Ballard, WA

michaellf AT myway.com

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