2017 Cowlitz County Bird List - October Update
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We were only able to add one species to our list in the last two months, but what a fun species it was. Cowlitz's second ever record of Sabine's Gull showed up in the Woodland Bottoms and spent at least nine days entertaining a large number of birders from Washington and northwest Oregon. This bird was a juvenile and while quite drab when on the water or walking on the shoreline, it shows a very striking black and white pattern when in flight.
Sabine's Gull is a very common fall migrant in Washington waters of the Pacific Ocean, but a few do seem to come through the interior of the state with some following the Columbia River downstream. Usually these are seen only by one person as they go by. To have one hang around for nine days is quite rare. This small gull favored a public access stretch of the Columbia that is used by bank fishermen and was finding a plentiful food supply of discarded bait and being around fish carcasses and getting small chunks that came off as the larger gulls pulled the carcass apart.
Download the pdf here.
Video of Vaux's Swifts in Rainier Oregon
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Below is a video of Vaux's Swifts going into the Chimney at Carpet One in Rainier, Oregon. The short film was taken on September 1st by Juni Roberts. More information is available here.
Fall 2017 Whistler is online
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The Fall 2017 Whistler is available now.
Read more of its content:
- Long Island Field Trip Enjoyed Beautiful Day
- Christmas Bird Counts 2017 dates
- The Okanogan in June
- Help map monarchs and milkweed you see
- Milkweed in SW Washington and NW Oregon
- Do You Hear What I Hear? Musings on the Breeding Bird Survey
- Action Alert: Stop the Mount St. Helens Mine
- Watching the eclipse projected onto an easel through my spotting scope
- Update: Marbled Murrelet Long Term Conservation Strategy
- Talking Points for a Letter to the U.S. Forest Service
- Programs and Fieldtrips
Update: Marbled Murrelet Long Term Conservation Strategy
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By Charlotte Persons
On Thursday and Friday, August 17 and 18, 2017, four members of WHAS Conservation Committee attended the Board of Natural Resources’ special meeting in Cathlamet, WA. Larry Brandt, WHAS president, was able to go on the BNR field trip on Thursday to many different sites in rural Pacific and Wahkiakum Counties. The goal of the field trip was to learn about different kinds of habitat and how they support now, or could in the future, Marbled Murrelet (MAMU) for breeding success.
As you probably know, MAMU are endangered in its entire range from California to Alaska, but numbers have been declining at 3-4% per year for over a decade in Washington State, especially in southwest Washington. Studies have shown that while ocean conditions are important, the principle factor in their disappearance is logging of the old growth forests that MAMU use for breeding.
Read more: Update: Marbled Murrelet Long Term Conservation Strategy
2017 Cowlitz County Bird List - August Update
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As usual we did not add many species in the last two months at the end of breeding season and the onset of fall migration. The highlight of the period was definitely a Long-tailed Jaeger that showed up on a beach of the Columbia River in the Woodland Bottoms. This species is noted for following the Arctic Tern migration from whom they try to steal food. This occurs well out into the Pacific Ocean and they are seen from land quite infrequently.
There are a very limited number of records away from salt water in the state of Washington. This was one of the bigger surprise sightings of my 20 years of avidly birding in Cowlitz County. Just keeps me wanting to keep getting out there to see what shows up next, and late fall seems to be the best time of year for rarities to show up, so keep your eyes open.
Vaux's Swifts migration is on!
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The Carpet One Chimney in Rainier, OR is busy with Vaux's Swifts every night. Sunday night Linda Jennings counted 521. Check it out, best place to watch is from the steps of the city hall.
Date -- Sunday, August 27, 2017
Observer -- Linda Jennings
Site location -- Rainier Carpet One
Observation Start Time -- 7:30:00 PM
Observation End Time -- 8:38:00 PM
First Sighting: Time -- 7:32:00 PM
First Bird In: 8:16:00 PM
Last Bird In: 8:26:00 PM
Time of Sunset -- 7:59:00 PM
TOTAL COUNT -- 521
2017 Cowlitz County Bird List - June Update
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We only added two species in June and both were species that are annually late arriving summer residents; Red-eyed Vireo and Common Nighthawk. However the main reason these were the only two was our ability to find all the other typical breeding species by the end of May. Not only that, but this appears to be the highest number of species recorded in the county by the half way point in the year since the inception of this project.
As is my normal, I will only be updating this list every other month from now to year's end. We do typically get some rarities for the county in fall migration and early winter, so be on the look out.
Download the pdf here.
Summer 2017 Whistler is online
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The Summer 2017 Whistler is available now.
Read more of its content:
- WHAS Summer Picnic Invitation
- Board Notes
- Membership Form
- NW Birding Events
- Brown Canyon Field Trip Report
- Puget Sound's Great blue herons provide summertime watching
- New WHSRN Site dedicated at Willapa Bay, Washington
- Programs and Fieldtrips
2017 Cowlitz County Bird List - May Update
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May saw a continuation of migrants both passing through and the breeding birds arriving. One highlight were the seven Franklin's Gulls that spent a day in the Woodland Bottoms. These gulls with black hoods were enjoyed by a number of birders as they made the second ever record for the county as they passed through to their more inland breeding sites.
Also of interest were a pair of Black Phoebes found at Washburn Road north of Kelso. In addition to being only the fifth record for Cowlitz County they also appeared to attempting to nest. This would be the first breeding record for the county of this species which continues to slowly move its range northward.
Download the pdf here.
2017 Cowlitz County Bird List - April Update
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There was a singing Cassin's Finch found near the parking lot of the Science and Learning Center at Coldwater Lake in early April. In the 11 years of this project, this is only the second time we have recorded this species.
They are more typically found on the east slope of the Cascades from the Ponderosa zone on up to the crest with a few found just on the west side of the Cascade crest. With the east edge of Cowlitz County quite a ways west of the crest this species is only found sporadically in our county. A nice addition to this years list.
Download the pdf here.
- Some Birds seen on the Oregon Coast
- 2017 Cowlitz County Bird List - March Update
- Tundra Swans and Canvasback Ducks near Svensen OR
- Eagles feeding at Ft. Stevens State Park
- Spring 2017 Whistler is online
- Great Egret feeding on Stickleback
- Trumpeter Swan on the Long Beach Peninsula
- Urgent Action Alert: Attack on Public Lands
- 2017 Cowlitz County Bird List - January Update
- The Green's Observation on Living on the Coast