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By Russ Koppendrayer
Here at the end of April we have new species arriving daily to add to our composite Cowlitz County year list as we near the heart of spring migration. Not a lot of unexpected species during the past month were reported. The most interesting was an American Goshawk that was seen chasing Band-tailed Pigeons around a rural yard near Toutle. A regular breeder in the forests on the east slopes of the Cascade Mountains, it is much more uncommon on our side. Records in Cowlitz County seem to occur every few years and have included birds in winter as well as possible breeding birds in June. While a few Goshawks are known to overwinter, most do migrate south. Our April individual was likely a returning migrant that stopped to try for a meal as it passed through.
Enjoy the on going migration and good birding to all.
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By Russ Koppendrayer
New species continued to trickle in throughout the month of March as spring migration ramped up. One rare addition to our Cowlitz County year list was a Franklin's Gull found on the log boom at the Kalama Marina. This third ever county record was seen intermittently over a four day period.
Bringing more excitement was a report of an Eyebrowed Thrush from the Woodland Bottoms. This species is in the same turdus genus as our American Robin, but is a native of Asia. There have been numerous records of them from the islands off Alaska and a few from the Alaskan mainland over the years, but a single record from California is the only one from the lower forty-eight states. As with all reports of birds this rare, it must be accepted by the Washington Bird Records Committee to be added to the official state bird list. A report has been filed with them, but we may not know the outcome for some time. As this was a single person, sight only report, without photos or additional data submitted it will likely not be taken up until their only in person meeting in October. Not many state first records are accepted of this type as the bar is high to get on the list, but we'll see. Much effort was made by a group of accomplished birders to refind it on the following day without success.
Download the pdf here.
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By Russ Koppendrayer
Early February saw new species trickle in with the last week being a bit more active on that front. We did not find any species that is particularly rare for Cowlitz County however. The only species that the list shows as less than annual here was Western Screech-owl, and that designation is more likely due to lack of people owling and/or not reporting them. If the pattern here is similar to places in western Washington where good surveys have been ongoing we actually are probably losing Screech-owl density. Where good long term data is available the invasion of Barred Owls has had a significant impact on the prevalence of Western Screech-owls. Anecdotal evidence here seems to bear this out as people who used to have them on or near their property no longer encounter them.
On the brighter side we did have all three of the very early migrant arrivals before the first of March. Rufous Hummingbird, Turkey Vulture and Tree Swallow all arrived before that date, and many years we seem to need very early March to get one of them. the arrivals should become more numerous as spring continues to delight those of us who pay attention to them.
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By Russ Koppendrayer
We're off to another fine beginning to our avian year here in Cowlitz County. Included in this month's reports was a flock of six Barn Swallows in the Longview industrial area. Although it seems incredible to me to have swallows in our region in mid-winter, it is becoming more frequent for these to appear at random western Washington locations during this season.
We also had a couple duck species found that are rare here in any season. A Long-tailed Duck found in the Columbia River in the Woodland Bottoms was the third ever record for the county. Photographed at the time it has been elusive and not refound since then. Also in the Woodland Bottoms and also a third county record was an adult male Tufted Duck. This bird has been seen on a few different occasions, but can be difficult to locate as it is frequently embedded in the massive rafts of Greater Scaup in the Columbia there. Not only is it similar in appearance, but the rafts like to position themselves where it can be tough to scope them due to river access limits.
Here's to a great 2025 of birding!
Download the pdf here.
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By Russ Koppendrayer
In the last two months of 2024 we added three species to our Cowlitz County year list. The most exciting was a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak that visited a Longview backyard feeder for a few days that a couple avid birders were fortunate to be able to photograph. This was a first ever record for the county. Nearly as rare was a third record of Yellow-billed Loon found in the Columbia River at the Woodland Bottoms and seen by a number of birders. Considered annual in the county, a Red-throated Loon was seen at Willow Grove in the last week of the year as it made a brief stop out from a couple birders before continuing downstream. This was the last of our annually expected species in the nick of time.
A quick recap of the entire year showed that in addition to seeing all the expected species we experienced many less than annual species including eight that had less than five previous county records. Not included in those eight were two species that had never been documented in the county before. In addition to the already mentioned Rose-breasted Grosbeak, there was a Slaty-backed Gull found in the Woodland Bottoms during the spring smelt run.
We ended the year with 207 species, just two shy of our record of 209, but definitely above our yearly average.
Here's to another great year of birding the area in 2025.
Download the pdf here.