Hi Tweeters,



I birded the Catherine Creek Preserve near Lyle?by the Eastern Columbia Gorge this morning, arriving just after 9:30.? As soon as I opened the car door, I heard an ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER calling from the trees near the paved pathway south of Old Highway 8.? It only took a moment to locate it as it was flitting from tree to tree and loudly vocalizing.?



A few minutes later, almost?as soon as I had hiked into the wooded area at the beginning of the valley, I spotted a large gray bird flying into one of the oaks to the left of the trail.? I could see a large white area on either wing as it flapped.? I was able to get close enough (less than 30 feet) to confirm that it was a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD.? I could even see the yellow iris quite clearly.? During the few minutes that I watched it, it did not vocalize.



Other species seen in the preserve include CHIPPING SPARROWS (very common), WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, WESTERN KINGBIRD, LAZULI BUNTING, WESTERN TANAGER, YELLOW WARBLER, NASHVILLE WARBLER (farther up the valley, clear?views of 2 and heard a couple more), and 3 or 4 territorial CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD?males.?



Also seen were Southern?Alligator Lizard, ?Western Fence Lizard, 1 Western Rattle Snake (gave me a heart attack, even though I was on the look-out for them), and one tick (so far).



A quick stop at the Lyle-Balch Cemetery yielded several LESSER GOLDFINCHES and a pair of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS.?? A few Western Pond Turtles were out basking on logs by the pond just passed the cemetery.? I also spotted 1 ACORN WOODPECKER on the granary tree.



On the way back, I went to Ridgefield NWR in order to walk the Kiwa trail for the first time this year.? A volunteer told me that both Virginia Rail and Sora chicks had been seen in the last few days from the trail.? While I did not see any of these, I did hear SORA calling from several locations, both along the trail and while driving the second half of the auto route.? I also spotted a couple of CINNAMON TEAL and a male RUDDY DICK (very striking with his blue bill) as well as a lone VAUX'S SWIFT.



Good birding,



Lonnie Somer

Olympia, WA

wheelermombi at comcast.net