This afternoon a few volunteers at Ridgefield NWR were rewarded for their donated time with a?some code 5 birds for Clark County.? Tim Tuttle and Charlie Kauphlon (sp?) finished their work on a restoration project and were leaving the shop on Bachelor Island when they spotted what they thought was a Black-throated Sparrow.? I did a quick search without success but had to get back to headquarters so stopped at the visitor contact station at River "S" and talked with Roger Windemuth about trying to relocate the sparrow.??Roger maintains the bird list that is posted weekly on the Friends of Ridgefield NWR website and ?was just finishing his?visitor station duty ?so was happy to take a ?look "behind the gate" where the public is not allowed.? Besides getting a closer look at nesting Black Phoebes, Roger was able to relocate and photograph the Black-throated Sparrow and also found an Eastern Kingbird nearby.? Not bad for another 30 minutes of bonus time.? Bachelor Island is part of the closed area of RNWR, but Bachelor Slough (east boundary of the island) is open to kayak, canoe and other boat access.? Bachelor Slough can be reached from the Ridgefield boat ramp without entering the mainstem Columbia River which is at flood stage. ? Many of the rarer birds that are found on Bachelor Island?have eventually turned up in public areas ?along the auto tour route, but this is also a heads up to watch for these and other out- of- norm al- range birds still moving ?west of the Cascades.



Roger also sent me a photo of a banded Osprey with a?white on gray color band reading X3 which may or may not be the complete script.? It also appeared to have a small patagial marker or transmitter saddle.? Please contact me if you have information on this bird or banding project. ?



Randy Hill

Ridgefield?