Susan and I went out to the Ridgefield NWR, Clark County, this
morning in hopes of finding some migrants. There were very few birds
moving through although just past the entrance to the River "S" unit we
did spot 8 TURKEY VULTURES roosting in one snag. From the Observation
Blind we spotted an unidentified Kingbird sitting on a twig at a great
distance.
At the Kiwa Trail there was 1 GREEN HERON in the first slough
where it has been for several weeks. While walking the trail we came
across 1 LINCOLN'S SPARROW hanging out with a group of SONG SPARROWS,
COMMON YELLOWTHROATS were abundant here.
At about marker # 9 we encountered several YELLOW-RUMPED
WARBLERS, a species I hadn't seen in the county this fall. A gathering of
sparrows were on the road between markers #10 and # 11, these proved to
be all SAVANNAH SPARROWS. Susan spotted a single sparrow perched low on a
branch of a large Oregon Ash tree that looked different. I got out of the
vehicle and slowly approached the bird which sat still and allowed me to
get within fifteen feet of it before I backed away. This turned out to be
a VESPER SPARROW, a species I hadn't seen in the county during the last
nine years. The bird appeared to be an exhausted migrant that had just
set down.
We found 8 AMERICAN BITTERN on Rest Lake but no shorebirds were
at the south end of this body of water which is still at a pretty high
level.
We stopped by Vancouver Lake on our way back to the Gorge where
we spotted 32 SANDHILL CRANES on the north end of Turtle Island.
This evening back here in Skamania County our first of the fall
GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW was beneath our feeders.

Wilson Cady
Washougal, WA
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