[obol] Ridgefield NWR: Tree Swallows only today

[Bill Clemons]

Today, from about 8a-3p, my nonagenarian mother (Olive) and 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/ ).  We made two very
leisurely loops.

Highlights:

It was just another very nice day at the wetlands.  I was outdoors. I
avoided chores.  How could it Not be a nice day? 

SWALLOWS:  I only saw a couple dozen Swallows today.  They were all
TREE SWALLOWS as far as I could tell.

GREATER YELLOWLEGS:  One was seen after the Hunters' Gate, at the first
wet field on the driver's side of the road.  There were also several
G-w Teal and Shoveler there.

RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER:  This Woodpecker has been drilling new lines of
holes in an Oregon Ash next to parking lot at The Blind for every bit
of a week and a half.  As a result, it has been easy to see for all who
care to look.

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


Complete list of 53 species seen / heard:

Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
AMERICAN BITTERN  (1 seen-water control canal SE corner of Rest Lake )
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE  (26 seen on Rest Lake)
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
CANVASBACK   (1 seen on Rest Lake)
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
HOODED MERGANSER  (7 seen in water control canal near The Blind)
COMMON MERGANSER  (4 seen in Lake River)
Ruddy Duck
Bald Eagle  
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
HARLAN'S RED-TAILED HAWK  (SE Oak tree after Rest Lake)
DARK PHASE RED-TAILED HAWK  (1 near Hunters' Gate, 1 NE of The Blind)
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK  (1 on sign-SE corner of Rest Lake)
American Kestrel
American Coot
SANDHILL CRANE  (lots heard, none seen)
Killdeer  (heard only today) 
GREATER YELLOWLEGS
Wilson's Snipe
Glaucous-winged Gull   (on log across from Kiwa parking lot)
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER  (next to parking lot at The Blind)
Northern Flicker
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
Tree Swallow  
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
American Goldfinch


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