Today, my "just show me the good birds" nonagenarian Mom (Olive) and I birded the River "S" Unit at Ridgefield NWR Thursday. (~4mi W of I-5 at Exit 14 in SW Washington; http://www.fws.gov/ridgefieldrefuges/ ).

Highlights:

SORA: After hearing them all spring, today I finally saw 2 on the Kiwa Trail. I was walking around with a photographer named Rebecca who got a few pics, while I enjoyed the cooperative SORA show. It seemed like we were watching SORA for 5 minutes. A Wonderful FOY SORA morning!

YELLOW WARBLER: Two excellent views today. I never tire of this little red-streaked yellow beauty!. One was across from The Blind and at nearly eye height. The other was about 200 yards after the Hunters Gate, in the trees between the road and the water control canal.

BULLOCK'S ORIOLE: Good representation near the R/R tracks; several males and a couple females. The female is still in the nest over the road before the bridge. This nest is the same one used in 2007. Her assertive mate was diligent in his guard duty and was flitting here and there fending off Jays, etc.

COMMON MERGANSER: I suppose this Drake gets to be the bird of the day, largely do to their absence for weeks (months?). He was on Lake River and we saw him as we were leaving the Refuge and stopped mid span. I glassed down river at a white spot, fully expecting it to be a floating bottle or a hunk of Styrofoam, but Voila! It took Mom a moment or two, but she finally got sun on the bird. "Oh, I see him! I see him! His bill is Red!"

Good Day for Olive: Today was good, bright color day for Mom as I was able to get her good binocular views of:
Bullock's Oriole
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Pileated WP
Black-headed Grosbeak
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Western Tanager
Common Merganser

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

Birding:
The best excuse for getting outdoors
And avoiding chores

Complete list of 67 species seen / heard:

Pied-billed Grebe
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
BLUE-WINGED TEAL
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
REDHEAD
Ring-necked Duck
Bufflehead
COMMON MERGANSER
Ruddy Duck
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Virginia Rail
SORA
American Coot
Killdeer
Wilson's Snipe
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Vaux's Swift
Belted Kingfisher
RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER
Northern Flicker
PILEATED WOODPECKER
Western Wood-Pewee
Willow Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
PURPLE MARTIN
Tree Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
YELLOW WARBLER
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
WESTERN TANAGER
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Black-headed Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD
Brown-headed Cowbird
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE
House Finch
American Goldfinch