Subject: [Tweeters] Ridgefield NWR Tuesday: Interesting Behaviors
Date: Apr 25 20:30:28 2007
From: Bill Clemons - willclemons at yahoo.com


Tuesday April 24, 2007 my mother and I birded
Ridgefield NWR (~4mi W of I-5 at Exit 14 in SW
Washington; http://www.fws.gov/ridgefieldrefuges/ ).

It seemed fairly quiet though we saw or heard a good
number of species on the day.

Spring is definitely here as far as certain birds are
concerned:
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS are now easy to see on their
territory on S Quigley Lake.
HOUSE WRENS are seen and heard in the Oregon Ash
woodland.

Our best bird views of the day were of behavior I have
never seen before:

KILLDEER Nest Change:
E of the R/R tracks we saw a nest with 3 eggs in it
and while we were parked nearby (~20 feet) so I could
get my mom to see the nest in binoculars, the second
Killdeer came along and die a nest exchange. It was
really cool! Killdeer A stood up straddling the eggs,
then moved, But Only to the edge of the nest scrape.
Killdeer B then approached from the rear of Killdeer A
and scooted under its rear end actually brushing its
head on the underside of Killdeer A before A finally
decided it was OK to move away. It seems as though
(at least these) Killdeer do a "tag team" exchange.
This sight is a first for me.

PIED-BILLED GREBE Courtship Display:
>From the Blind we had a scope on a pair of Pied-billed
Grebes while they were seemingly "standing" in the
water while stretching and "entwining" their necks. I
have never before seen this behavior either. It was
beautiful and very brief. The Grebes separated
quickly and seemed to go in opposite directions,
moving about 30 yards apart.

Complete bird list for the day:

Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern (Good~30ft)
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret (1 Flying)
Turkey Vulture
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal (Lots)
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Bald Eagle (Sub-adults only)
Northern Harrier
American Kestrel
Virginia Rail (Heard)
Sora (Heard)
American Coot
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Wilson's Snipe (Heard)
Glaucous-winged Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove X
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
House Wren
Winter Wren (Heard)
Marsh Wren (Heard)
American Robin
Audubon's Warbler (Yellow-rumped)
Myrtle Warbler (Yellow-rumped)
Common Yellowthroat
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
House Finch (Heard)
American Goldfinch



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

.


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