Today 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/ ).
We only birded part of the Kiwa Trail, from the
entrance to the first bridge going clockwise.

Highlights for our day:

* EARED GREBE: This pair is still on Rest Lake and
still without the "floating" nest they had previously
built.

* GREATER YELLOWLEGS: One was on Canvasback Lake,
which is across from the Kiwa Trail parking lot.
Earlier in the day, Scott Murray had also seen three
LESSER YELLOWLEGS there.

* HOPALONG-BILLED DOWITCHER: Also on Canvasback Lake
were two LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS with two legs each,
and a third with only one leg. Since it seemed to
function reasonably well hopping around on only one
leg, I decided to name it HOPALONG (age related pun).

* RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER: The previously described
nest near the top of the entrance canyon road is still
active. This morning I saw a nestling with its head
and neck outside of the hole, looking and calling for
food. It looked to be full sized, so any day now and
it will be gone. Scott Murray, Clay Davis and I also
saw another RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER in a large
Cottonwood just E of the railroad tracks.

* BULLOCK'S ORIOLE: The female is still busy building
her nest right above the road near the E end of the
entrance bridge over Lake River. It appears to be
about a third complete. While we were watching her
work, the male came by but did not help. It was as if
he was merely checking it out or supervising.

* ACTIVE NESTS SEEN: Pied-billed grebe, Cedar
Waxwing, Western Wood Pewee, House Wren, Marsh Wren,
Downy Woodpecker, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Bald Eagle,
Tree Swallow. The male Downy Woodpecker was seen
entering the nest and flying away with nestling
cleanings.

* BABIES SEEN (Out and About): Coot, Pied-billed
grebe, Virginia Rail, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brewers
Blackbird, Mallard, Gadwall, Cinnamon Teal, Wood Duck,
Canada Goose, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Black-headed
Grosbeak, Robin. Clay Davis also saw a female Hooded
Merganser with three babies. They were in the water
control canal near the end of the Oregon Ash Woodland
beyond the Kiwa Trail parking lot.


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


Complete list of 73 species seen / heard:

Pied-billed Grebe
EARED GREBE
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Ruddy Duck
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Virginia Rail (heard & seen)
Sora (heard only)
American Coot
Killdeer
GREATER YELLOWLEGS
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER
Wilson's Snipe
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Vaux's Swift
Belted Kingfisher
RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Olive-sided Flycatcher (E of R/R called 4
times)
Western Wood-Pewee
Willow Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow (at R/R
tracks)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
Red-breasted Nuthatch (3 seen from
entrance canyon road)
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
House Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Swainson's Thrush (heard only)
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler (heard & seen from
entrance canyon road)
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Black-headed Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE
House Finch
American Goldfinch



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