My mother (Olive) and I birded the River "S" Unit at Ridgefield NWR
(~4mi W of I-5 at Exit 14 in SW Washington;
http://www.fws.gov/ridgefieldrefuges/ ).

Highlights:

NORTHERN SHRIKE: This pretty little killer was just W of Long Lake,
perched on a sign post for about 3-4 minutes this afternoon. Mom and I
had good looks from about 100 feet. It next flew W along the road and
perched for a similar time in a deciduous tree adjacent to the S side
of the road. It ultimately took off and continued Westerly paralleling
the road until I lost sight of it. This lovely bird has been seen off
and on over the last 6 weeks or so. It is more of a "stumble on" bird
than a "go and find" bird and has been seen in many places on the River
S Unit.

DARK PHASE RED-TAILED HAWK: Actively moving around and calling near
The Blind.

HARLAN'S RED-TAILED HAWK: E side of Rest Lake in one of "the three
trees" along the road, from where we watched it fly E to its favorite
Oak on the dike.

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS: 4 are still being seen on the SE and E side of the
loop. They are pretty easy to see perched and flying, and occasionally
hovering. Absolutely Beautiful HAWKS!

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


Complete list of 38 species seen / heard:

Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
CINNAMON TEAL
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
CANVASBACK
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK (heard only-2 places)
Red-tailed Hawk (lots in various plumages)
DARK PHASE RED-TAILED HAWK
HARLAN'S RED-TAILED HAWK
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK
American Kestrel
American Coot
SANDHILL CRANE
Glaucous-winged Gull
Gull (Species)
Great Horned Owl
NORTHERN SHRIKE
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
European Starling
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow




____________________________________________________________________________________
Looking for last minute shopping deals?
Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping