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Please send information about wildlife sightings to our Wildlife Sightings Chair.

To see some recent Washington State bird sightings go to the Tweeters list. To subscribe to Washington State Tweeters or to get more info about Tweeters visit WA Tweeters.

Sandhill Crane (WDFW Image)

 

Cowlitz County Bird List - March Update

Details
Last Updated: April 01, 2024

Slaty-backed Gull - Image courtesy of wikimedia

By Russ Koppendrayer

We continued to have new species of migrants being found in Cowlitz County throughout the month of March. They were almost all expected at this time of year although a few were actually a little early. 
The lone exception was a Slaty-backed Gull. This was the first ever record for this species in the county. Found on a sandbar in the Columbia River in the Woodland Bottoms, it was excellently documented both verbally and with photos. Primarily a species found in Asia there seem to be annual records in the state of Washington and it was finally our turn to host one in Cowlitz County. To the chagrin of many it was last photographed in flight as it departed and was only seen by the folks that found it.
Migration will continue to send more species our way as the wave of birds flowing into the area continues through April and May so get out and enjoy.

Download the pdf here.

 

Cowlitz County Bird List - February Update

Details
Last Updated: March 01, 2024
 Clarks Nutcraker
Clark's Nutcracker - Image courtesy of USFWS

By Russ Koppendrayer

The month of February did a very nice job of filling in our list of wintering species as well as year round resident birds. In the last week we also welcomed back the first early neotropical migrants of 2024. Both Violet-green and Tree Swallows as well as Rufous Hummingbirds made an appearance. Another interesting find was a hybrid duck with a Tufted Duck being one parent and a scaup being the other. 

The star of the month was a Clark's Nutcracker found on the road leading to Signal Peak. This was only the fourth record for Cowlitz County, all occurring since 2007. It seems highly likely that this species was more prevalent in this county before the Mount St Helens eruption in 1980. The Clark"s Nutcracker population was larger then and there was better habitat here. Record keeping of bird species at the county level became much more prevalent from the late 1980s up to the present in the state of Washington.

Download the pdf here.

 

Cowlitz County Bird List - January Update

Details
Last Updated: March 01, 2024
 Male Redheads
Male Redhead - Image courtesy of wikimedia

By Russ Koppendrayer

In spite of having the Christmas Bird Count at the end of 2023 this year, we are off to a resounding beginning to 2024. We have recorded 124 species in January which is a reflection of the increased coverage of Cowlitz County by birders as well as their documenting their finds on eBird. It's definitely a pleasure to see.

The highlight of the month was a Long-tailed Duck found at the Kalama River mouth. This bird stayed around for almost two weeks and was enjoyed by numerous birders. A female, this individual was only the second record for the county. Also interesting in January, but not nearly as rare were multiple Redheads seen both at Woodland Bottoms and Willow Grove. Until the last two winters we could sometimes go a few years between sightings of this species. Nearly as fun were multiple Surf Scoters seen at both Willow Grove and the Kalama River mouth. While regular in fall migration, it's been a long time since we've had them spend the winter this far up the Columbia.   

Download the pdf here.

 

Final 2023 Cowlitz County Bird List

Details
Last Updated: January 04, 2024
 Laysan Albatross from USFWS
Laysan Albatross - Image courtesy of USFWS

By Russ Koppendrayer

For the first time there were zero new species found in the last two months of the year in Cowlitz County. It wasn't for lack of coverage as there was a normal amount of birding activity in November and December, just nothing was found that hadn't been recorded earlier in 2023. The only miss of a species that typically occurs annually was Red-throated Loon, and they are usually quite infrequent in the Columbia River in winter. We did finish with an above average total of 207 species for the year.

We did add two new species to our county list during 2023. Most amazing was the Laysan Albatross that was found injured at Willow Grove. This species of the open ocean met with success at a rehab center and later returned to the Pacific Ocean with an assist from the Coast Guard. The other new species was also a salt water specialist. The Brandt's Cormorant was initially found in the Columbia River near Kalama on January 1st and last seen from the Port of Longview the next day.

Here's to a great year of birding in 2024.

Download the pdf here.

 

2023 Cowlitz County Bird List - October Update

Details
Last Updated: November 06, 2023
 Sabine's Gull
Sabine's Gull - Image courtesy of wikimedia

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.

 

  1. 2023 Cowlitz County Bird List - August Update
  2. 2023 Cowlitz County Bird List - June Update
  3. 2023 Cowlitz County Bird List - May Update
  4. 2023 Cowlitz County Bird List - April Update

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