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/ ). I was there for this season's final Goose Survey. I was there today from 7AM until 2:30PM. I walked the entrance canyon, and also made 2 loops of the Auto Tour Route.

Highlights:
CLIFF SWALLOW & BARN SWALLOW: One of each was seen working N & S over the water canal between the road and Rest Lake, from the Lake's SE corner Northerly. There are hundreds of Violet-green Swallows and Tree Swallows on the Refuge now. Wilson Cady was near Clay Davis and I while we were watching the CLIFF and BARN. Wilson told me that George Mayfield had seen the CLIFF SWALLOW a few days ago at RNWR.

Seen by other birders, but not by me:
EURASIAN WIGEON
GOLDEN EAGLE
HARLAN'S RED-TAILED HAWK
GREATER YELLOWLEGS

Will Clemons
SW of Portland
willclemons AT Yahoo dot com

Birding:
The best excuse for getting outdoors
And avoiding chores

Complete list of 56 species seen / heard:

Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
CLIFF SWALLOW
BARN SWALLOW
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
House Finch