By Russ Koppendrayer
We had a very productive couple of months for adding species to our list of bird species found in Cowlitz County during 2026. Finding both Red-neccked and Western Grebes as well as Lesser Yellowlegs means we have all the species that are recorded annually. A Northern Shrike was found at Canal Road as well, which is a species found here most years. A small flock of Gray-crowned Rosy-finches were seen in the Davis Peak area. We frequently go many years between reports of this species in Cowlitz County. A Clark's Nutcracker seen at the Science and Learning Center by Coldwater Lake was a fifth ever for Cowlitz County.The rarest find of all was our second record of Parasitic Jaeger seen in flight over the Columbia River at Kalama.
Our species total for the year now stands at 208 which is one short of the 209 found in 2020. We have two months to add two species for the all time highest total. We'll see what is found in the remainder of 2026.
Download the pdf here.