Subject: [Tweeters] Ridgefield NWR: Rainy Day Treats
Date: Jul 18 00:29:50 2007
From: Wilson Cady - gorgebirds at juno.com


It was a pleasure to bird with Bill and Olive today at the River
"S" Unit, I stuck around a couple of hours after they and Barry Woodruff
left and have only a few other species to add to the list. At about 5 PM
several flocks of shorebirds passed over rest Lake but did not drop in as
there is little mud showing yet. On the way out I counted at least four
BLACK SWIFTS between Rest Lake and the entrance kiosk, some of them very
close to the ground and affording excellent close up views.

Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Bald Eagle
Sora (heard only)
Least Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Long-billed Dowitcher
Common Raven
House Finch


Wilson Cady
Washougal, WA

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:46:44 -0700 (PDT) Bill Clemons
<willclemons at yahoo.com> writes:
> 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