By Russ Koppendrayer
During the months of September and October we added four species to our 2023 Cowlitz County list. The rarest was an adult Sabine's Gull seen flying downstream over the Columbia River in the Woodland Bottoms. Seen well by two birder's, this bird was still in full breeding plumage in spite of the late September date. The only previous record was of a juvenile that spent about a week at the same Woodland Bottoms area and was seen by many happy birders in the fall of 2017.
The other additions were a female Surf Scoter found in October at the former Longview sewage treatment ponds. This species seems to be annual in our county during fall migration. Also found at the above location, but on a September date, was a Red-necked Phalarope. This species has been being found in the county more regularly in recent years. Lastly a Broad-winged Hawk was seen soaring along a ridge near Woodland on its southbound migration. This also is becoming nearly an annual find.
Let's look forward to more fun additions to our year list in the final two months of 2023.
Download the pdf here.