I stopped at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge this afternoon on my way
back from Portland and had excellent looks at the White Breasted Nuthatch.
It is in the grove of trees at the very south of the ponds on the loop road.
Also of special interest are some Yellow-Headed Black Birds. Thre is a
note that a Red-Necked Phalarope was seen today, but I did not see it. I
had an excellent list for the day totalling 48 species for the trip
including in my idiosyncratic field notes order: shorebirds etc, ducks,
raptors, songbirds plus, and warblers:

Great Blue Heron
Greater Yellowlegs (2)
American Coot
Long Billed Dowitcher(3)
Canada Goose
Great Egret (6)
Black-Necked Stilt (2)
Virginia Rail (H)
Pied-Billed Grebe
Sora (H)

Cinnamon Teal (20+)
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Green-Winged Teal
Lesser Scaup
Ruddy Duck
Bufflehead

Turkey Vulture (Also a group of six circling over I-5)
Red-Tailed Hawk
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Bald Eagle
American Kestrel

Stellar's Jay
Red-Winged Black Bird
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Vaux's Swift
American Goldfinch
Song Sparrow
Yellow-Headed Black Bird (4)*
Marsh Wren
Brown-Headed Cowbird
Violet-Green Swallow
Rough-Winged Swallow
European Starling
House Wren
Bewick's Wren
American Crow
White-Breasted Nuthatch (1)*
House Finch

Common Yellowthroat (3)
Yellow-Rumped Warbler (a dozen)
Yellow Warbler(1)

A flock of 200+ cliff swallows over the Nisqually Exit area on I-5.


Andrew McCormick
Bellevue, WA
andy_mcc at hotmail.com