Sherry and I spent several hours down south today. First we drove into Oregon, visiting the Tualatin River NWR between Tigard and Newberg. We followed an OBOL post by Richard Leinen about a very cooperative WESTERN SCREECH OWL seen at the refuge two days ago. We were not disappointed. We found the owl perched in the cedar tree about 15ft up in the open. The owl was sleeping and occasionally a flock a birds would come in and try to harrass it. The owl could care less about the protests. Other birds seen at the refuge were;
ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD - 1
TOWNSEND'S WARBLER - 1
WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH - 1
LESSER GOLDFINCH - 1
BROWN CREEPER - 2
BUSHTIT - 15

Next we went to Ridgefield NWR. We went looking for the BLACK PHOEBE that was reported there. We found it in the same place of the last report, on the left side as you turn by the hunters gate. It was flycatching from the restoration cages. Other birds seen there were;
TUNDRA SWAN - 14
SANDHILL CRANE - 3
MERLIN - 1
WESTERN MEADOWLARK - 8
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW - 1
GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW - 11
BALD EAGLE - 1

Pictures of the owl and phoebe can be seen at the following link.
http://s79.photobucket.com/albums/j148/dtvhm/


Dave Hayden
dtvhm AT nwrain.com
Centralia, WA