Blog - Willapa Hills Audubon Society

Cowlitz County Bird List's June update

Details: Last Updated: February 15, 2014

Red Crossbill - Image: Royce Craig The year is at the half way point and all the breeding migrants have arrived, so this is a good time to see where we stand. I did a quick check of the 2012 list at the end of June and we have one more species on this years count. Amazing how similar that number is from year to year. Additions will be really slow for the remainder of the year, but they will mostly be species seen less than annually in the county.

Check out he updated list here.

Red-breasted Sapsucker has found his instrument

Details: Last Updated: February 15, 2014

One of Darrel Whipple's resident Red-breasted Sapsuckers has found his instrument! Every day he hammers out his signature rhythmic cadence on the top end of a 16-foot aluminum ladder. The irony is Darrel put the ladder up at the corner of the house to keep the Sapsucker from making more holes in the wood siding. The tactic saved the house, but now Darrel is awakened every morning by the resonating ladder.

May - June 2013 Whistler is online

Details: Last Updated: December 27, 2017

The May / June 2013 Whistler is available now.

Read more of its content:

Indian Jack Slough Update
Great Backyard Bird Count Review
Membership Application Form,
WENAS Campout
Book Review: Gifts of the Crow
Translucent Windows Bird Tape
Program: Diving Birds
WHAS Programs and Field Trips;

March - April 2013 Whistler is online

Details: Last Updated: December 27, 2017

The March / April 2013 Whistler is available now.

The printed Whistler and a previous online version have the wrong date for the April Lake Sacajawea walk. The correct date is Saturday April 13, at 8am.

Read more of its content:

Annual WHAS Member Meeting and Program
Cowlitz County Bird Year List
Message to National Members
Membership Application Form
Program Chair wanted
Bird Festivals
Update on WA State Legislative Session
Earth Day
Plant trees at Indian Jack
Amphibian Survey update
Book Review: Dog Days Raven Nights
Bald Eagle Survey
SWAMP update,
Mushroom Growing 101
WHAS Programs and Field Trips;

Indian Jack Slough Amphibian Survey

Details: Last Updated: February 15, 2014

“No way!”

“Yes, way.”

Have you ever seen lumpy water? Look closely at the bottom of this picture. The straight lines are plant stems, but the rounded grape-like shapes are red-legged frog egg masses, tightly packed, fresh, clear and round.

Saturday, February 16 nine hardly volunteers found over 5,000 red-legged frog egg masses at Indian Jack Slough, mostly in newly-created wetlands. About 250 egg masses comprise the group pictured above.

Cowlitz County Bird List (January 2013 update)

Details: Last Updated: February 15, 2014

Russ Koppendrayer just updated the 2013 Cowlitz County Yearlist:

"The 2013 list includes the new taxonomic order which includes the counter-intuitive placement of falcons between woodpeckers and flycatchers. Also you will find some updating of abundance codes, but more needs to be done before next year.

January was launched from the springboard of a record CBC and continued with some good coverage and nice finds in Cowlitz County. We already have identified 114 species for the year."

For more information contact Russ Koppendrayer through our Wildlife Sightings area, where you can find this list (and others) as a pdf file.

Local Christmas Bird Counts Results

Details: Last Updated: February 15, 2014

Leadbetter CBC 2012

Image: Suzy Whittey - Male Summer Tanager

By Suzy Whittey

This was the Christmas bird count that almost did not happen. When I discovered in mid-November that no one was organizing the Leadbetter CBC that I had participated in for years, I volunteered for the job. I could not imagine a Christmas without counting birds. I also, could not imagine the job, or I might not have tackled it.

Continue reading to see the results for Cowlitz-Columbia and Wahkiakum County circles.