Ridgefield NWR was very birdy this morning. ?The highlights were appx 100 Sandhill Crains flying around and flight after flight of Cackling Geese also mostly going over headed West probably 1000 geese total. ?Lots of Raptor activity. ?We counted 6 Red Tailed Hawks a dozen or so Harriers, one Bald Eagle and six TVs for the TV fans. ?A Red Shouldered and a Sharp Shinned Hawk were reported but not seen by us. ?The ducks are moving in in numbers and a nice mix of dabblers was present and even more at Sturgeon Lake. ?

My goal was White Pelicans which had been reported as they were a life bird for me so after Ridgefield I went Sturgeon Lake and found most of the Cackling Geese and Sandhill Crains that had overflown over there along with hundreds of ducks most of which were Green Wing Teal and Northern Pintail. ?The big find was 250 or more White Pelicans camped out on a sand bar at the north end of the lake. ?No Snow Geese that were reported a couple of days ago. ?

To get to Sturgeon Lake you have to cross the Columbia River bridge then go south and recross it heading North so I assumed I would be back in WA but it's still in OR. ?It's a state park and they have a similar parking pass which of course I didn't have or know where to get. ?Someone told me that you can get them at places like 7-11 for $3.50 but I wasn't about to go hunt one up and didn't get a ticket but if your going over there you might want to make the effort. ?The Crains and Pelicans are worth seeing. ?It's about a mile walk from the trailhead to the closes approach and they are still a half mile away so a scope is advisable but the trial is a level maintainance road that's easy to walk on. ?
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Ray Holden
Olympia, WA

Life is for the birds.