Sunday from about 11:30a until around 4p, Jane Smith, 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/ ). Debby de Carlo joined us around 1:30pm.

Our birding was pretty casual as we were enjoying being on the Refuge with all the beautiful Fall foliage. Also, my primary focus today was to make a couple of loops looking for the BEWICK'S SWAN that Carol Ledford saw, photographed and reported Saturday.

We did Not see the Bewick's Swan, but had a lovely day anyway.

Perhaps The Bewick's Swan is over at Sauvie Island. There is no reason to think it has left the area, and since Sauvie Island (and environs) lay directly across the Columbia River from Ridgefield, we should all keep an eye out for Swans and check them all to find this rare Bewick's.

I am not aware that any other birder/photographer saw the Bewick's Swan today either. Others that I know were looking and who did not see it were:

Scott Carpenter
Lyn Topinka
Ken Meyer
Sumner Sharpe
Roger Windemuth
Al Larrabee


Highlights:

Birds of the day were seeing first of fall:
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK
NORTHERN SHRIKE

Will Clemons
SW of Portland
willclemons AT Yahoo dot com

Birding:
The best excuse for getting outdoors
And avoiding chores

Complete list of 35 species seen / heard:

Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose (good #s of Duskys, several w/collars)
Tundra Swan (~30 on Rest Lake)
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck (1 seen on South Big Lake)
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier (male and female seen)
Red-tailed Hawk
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK
American Kestrel
American Coot
SANDHILL CRANE
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (3 seen on Rest Lake)
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Gull (Species)
Mourning Dove
NORTHERN SHRIKE
American Crow
Bewick's Wren
American Robin
European Starling
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
American Goldfinch