My mother (Olive) and I birded today at the River "S"
Unit at Ridgefield NWR (~4mi W of I-5 at Exit 14 in SW
Washington; http://www.fws.gov/ridgefieldrefuges/ ).
It fully clouded and there was intermittent rain from
about 9am when we arrived until some time in the early
afternoon.

Highlights of our day:

BULLOCK'S ORIOLE: The female of this pair is still on
the nest, but not as much, as the babies have
apparently hatched (I did not see any). The female
was seen coming and going and standing on the edge of
the nest and poking her head down in; I assume to feed
young. I watched the Male on guard duty and for a
moment he was actually fighting and making contact
with a Steller's Jay that was clearly bent on getting
to the nest. Admirable job on the part of the male
ORIOLE as it took him well over a minute to drive the
Steller's off (Jay's closest approach ~ 5 feet) and
then through several adjacent trees ending about 75
feet away. The male was seen poking its head into the
nest after running off the Jay. Obviously it was very
serious business for the ORIOLE, but it was a real
treat to witness this part of nature play out.

CEDAR WAXWING NESTLINGS: The nest near the Blind is
in full swing now with parents feeding FOUR hungry
babies. It was nice to watch as a parent would return
and the fuss would begin as four Peeping Gapes jostled
for first position. When a parent left, all babies
would sink into the nest and only one baby's head and
back in profile could be seen. The baby I watched
would alternately doze and look around, but remain
quiet until a parent returned again. I would guess
another week and they will fledge, so it should be fun
to watch while they grow from 1/2 size.

TURKEY VULTURE JUVENILE playing Crow: The day was
cool and wet until after 1pm, and as we began our 2nd
loop and past the Volunteer Booth, we were treated to
a TURKEY VULTURE JUVENILE walking in a mowed field
with a few Crows. It appeared to be "hunting" like
the Crows were as they walked through the short grass.
The Crows found food but the VULTURE did not. We
were less than 40 feet from it as it searched. This
is the First Time I have ever seen this behavior. The
head color was also a first for me, as I had
previously only seen heads that were either All Black
or All Red; but never a Blotchy Mix of the two colors.
Quite nice!

YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD: I fully expected to find
none today but was pleasantly surprised. Three
separate sites has begging fledglings that, with
patience, brought one or both parents into view:
1-- In the grasses N of the road at Bull Lake Male
and Female seen.
2-- At the Blind near the Cattails Al Larrabee,
Wilson Cady and Barry heard and saw them. I arrived
later and only heard the begging baby.
3-- At South Quigley Lake (where most of them nested)
I had a begging baby in my scope from about100 feet
or so. It was atop the Cattail for several minutes
allowing for Great Scope Views for Mom ("Oh I See 'em,
I See 'em!"), myself and Wilson Cady and his friend
Barry. This baby was seen being fed 3 times by the
Male. Sweet! This week will very likely be the last
good looks for YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD.

BLACK SWIFT: Near the SW corner of Rest Lake where it
is next to Canvasback Lake Wilson Cady pointed out a
BLACK SWIFT to Barry, Al Larrabee and me. We had good
looks as the BLACK SWIFT flew right over the road less
than 20 feet high.

WINTER WREN: From the entrance canyon road, Al
Larrabee and I saw 3 WINTER WRENS. We never heard any
sing.

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


Complete list of 64 species seen / heard

Pied-billed Grebe
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
TURKEY VULTURE (juvenile)
Gadwall
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
REDHEAD (a pair on Rest Lake)
Ring-necked Duck
Ruddy Duck (with babies on Rest Lake)
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
PEREGRINE FALCON
Virginia Rail (heard only, but others
saw at the Blind)
American Coot
Killdeer
Wilson's Snipe (saw one flock of 9, and one
of 2)
Gull (Species)
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
BLACK SWIFT
Vaux's Swift
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Western Wood-Pewee
Willow Flycatcher
Hutton's Vireo
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
House Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Swainson's Thrush (seen and heard)
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow Warbler (seen just after the
"Hunters Gate")
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler (seen bathing in
entrance canyon)
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Black-headed Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD
Brown-headed Cowbird
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE
American Goldfinch



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