Tom Mansfield and I birded Wahkiakum Co. Friday May 1. Highlites included finding a shallow farm pond on west Bernie Slough Rd. on Puget Island, which had 10 Black-bellied Plovers, 1 Semipalmated Plover, 2 Whimbrel, both Western & Least Sandpipers, 4 Long-billed Dowitchers, and a bunch of Dunlin. 12 Whimbrel were east of the Puget Island Ferry dock in a grassy field. 2 Eurasian Collared-Doves were on East Bernie Slough Rd. Going east up Beaver Creek Rd. we had 1 singing Hermit Warbler and 1 Gray Jay.



Sat. May 2 we birded Cowlitz and Clark Cos. Highlites included 1 Western Kingbird on the southern part of the Dike Rd. near Woodland. At Ridgefield NWR we found 1 male Redhead, 1 American Bittern. At the Battle Ground exit flying overhead was 1 Goshawk circling and migrating with a Sharp-shinned Hawk messing with the Gos. Both appeared to be heading north. Yacolt produced Monk Parakeets near their nest and a cherry tree full of Evening Grosbeaks.



Sunday May 3 we birded Lewis County. On the Cowlitz Prairie we had 1 White-breasted Nuthatch on Spencer Rd. before you get to Schoolhouse Lane in the Oak trees. Swofford Pond had lots of swallows, but few ducks. The east end of Riffe Lake had 6 Common Loons, both Sora and Virginia Rail, Western Grebes, and Bald Eagles, but no small water ponds for shorebirds. The short grass gravelly area looked good for longspurs next fall.



It was a great weekend except for the snow above Cougar and Lightning and Thunder Sat. late afternoon which made the small passerines very quiet.





Ken Knittle
Vancouver WA 98665
mailto:washingtonbirder at hotmail.com
Washington Birder online
http://www.wabirder.com/