Subject: [Tweeters] Ridgefield NWR: ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, NORTHERN SHRIKE +
Date: Nov 20 21:25:41 2007
From: Bill Clemons - willclemons at yahoo.com


Tuesday my mom (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:

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK: I saw 2 today, while at least a couple of others
there saw 3. Both that I saw were again on the SE grasslands. We saw
them standing, and flying low. What impressed me today was the color
tone difference between the two birds. One bird was what I call a
typical light adult, with plenty of "off white" color, while the second
bird (also a light adult) was a very "dark creamy" (almost tawny)
color. I have never seen this shade before, as all before (excluding
dark phased) have been whitish to light creamy in my eyes. This darker
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was very striking indeed!

HOODED MERGANSER: A pretty large flock was on Rest Lake today with a
minimum of 30 HOODED MERGANSERS and around a fourth to a third appeared
to be drakes. Always a nice bird to see, especially in numbers.

DARK PHASE RED-TAILED HAWK: This HAWK has been hanging out in the
woods near the Blind for well over a week that I know of. I would
guess that it might be the same individual that hung around for months
last year.

HARLAN'S RED-TAILED HAWK: This hawk is still hanging out in the large
lone Oak on the Dike on the SE side of the loop road. We saw it leave
the Oak, fly over the E side of Rest Lake, then check out Schwartz Lake
before it returned to perch in the Oak.

NORTHERN SHRIKE: I did not see this bird today but Ridgefield
Volunteers Roger Windemuth and Al Larrabee saw one near the "Hunters
Gate".

Birding is still the best excuse for avoiding chores and getting
outdoors.

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


Complete list of 47 species seen / heard:

Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
CINNAMON TEAL (2 drakes on Rest Lake)
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
RING-NECKED DUCK (2 drakes on Rest Lake, 2 hens on Canvasback Lake)
Bufflehead
HOODED MERGANSER (close to 3 dozen on Rest Lake, 1/4 drakes)
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
DARK PHASE RED-TAILED HAWK (in woods at The Blind)
HARLAN'S RED-TAILED HAWK (in SE side Oak and flying over Rest
Lake)
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (2 on SE grasslands)
American Kestrel
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Greater Yellowlegs (4 on Rest Lake)
Wilson's Snipe (2 on Long Lake)
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Great Horned Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
European Starling
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
House Finch




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