[obol] Ridgefield NWR: Yellow-Headed Blackbirds and Redheads

[Bill Clemons]

Today from about 7a to 4:30p, I birded the River "S" Unit at Ridgefield NWR (~4mi W of I-5 at Exit 14 in SW Washington; http://www.fws.gov/ridgefieldrefuges/ ).

Highlights:

REDHEAD: Two pair were in bright light on the open water just NE of the parking lot at The Blind.  Beautiful!

YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD:  On the Cattails and moving around the marsh at South Quigley Lake, I saw 4 males but no females today.  At peak season there should be 10 to 12 pairs at South Quigley Lake and a couple pairs in each of 2 other spots.

Bill Clemons
SW of Portland in Mtn Park
Willclemons AT Yahoo dot com


Complete list of 70 species seen / heard:

Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern  (heard only - NE corner of Long Lake near road)
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal  (increasing numbers)
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
REDHEAD    (2 pair NE of parking lot at The Blind)
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser  (several sites - included were 2 partial breeding plumage males)
Ruddy Duck
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Virginia Rail   (heard only)
American Coot
SANDHILL CRANE  (at least 60)
Killdeer
Wilson's Snipe
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Belted Kingfisher
RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER
Downy Woodpecker
HAIRY WOODPECKER  (working shrubs at the parking lot at The Blind)
Northern Flicker
PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER  (seen in entrance canyon and R/R tracks - not heard)
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
COMMON RAVEN  (SE corner of loop road)
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch   (heard only)
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
Winter Wren  (heard only - entrance canyon)
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler  (abundant)
Audubon's Warbler
Myrtle Warbler
Common Yellowthroat  (lots)
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD  (4 males seen at S Quigley Lake)
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch




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