Leadbetter Point CBC Results
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Many thanks to everyone that participated in the 2011 Leadbetter Point Christmas Bird Count on December 17. For those of you not familiar with Leadbetter Point, it is a 15-mile radius circle generally in the area around Willapa Bay. This year, we had a total of 34 participants working in five sectors and two participants monitoring feeders.
We had good weather with temperatures ranging from freezing to about 50-degrees. Winds were not a factor. This sounds like perfect birding weather, right? It was!
In total, we identified 110 species with about half being water fowl and shore birds and the other half upland species. The least found group was owls with only 2 snowy owls being spotted. The most common species was Dunlin with 29,950 spotted. Second was Northern Pintail duck at 16,141. No rare species were seen but species unusual to the Willapa Bay area in December included Western Scrub Jay (5), Brown Pelican (1) and Orange-Crowned Warbler (30).
Most participants were from the Longview-Kelso-Castle Rock area. A few from Long Beach-Ilwaco. Others came from Seattle, Portland and Alaska to be day-long participants. We had four new people turn out and we hope they make the C an annual event.
2014 Wahkiakum CBC Results
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December 30, 2014, was the Wahkiakum Christmas Bird Count. The count circle straddles the lower Columbia River, including Puget Island, Cathlamet, Skamokawa, and the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge in Washington and Westport, Nicolai Mountain, Brownsmead, Knappa and the Lewis & Clark National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.
The day dawned clear and 28 degrees F, with a light east wind. Twenty-five volunteers found 120 species plus two additional count week species, equaling our highest previous total. The most abundant species in the circle, for the third straight year, was Cackling Goose, with over 16,000 found. This was a new high count for this species.
We had high counts for ten other species, most notably Double-crested Cormorant, European Starling, and Horned Lark. Whites Island is our local breeding area for the endangered (and recently federally listed) “Streaked” Horned Lark, and the count of 45 more than doubled our previous high count. New to the count this year was a Barrow’s Goldeneye found by Mike Passmore on the Wahkiakum ferry trip to Westport. A Redhead was in Net Rack Slough. The Northern Mockingbird that was at 80 North Welcome Slough on Puget Island on last year’s count spent the entire year there and was seen on this one as well.
Other species that have been expanding their range northward, Black Phoebe and Red-shouldered Hawk, continue to remain established here. Seven Trumpeter Swans flew over the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge. We missed Virginia Rail for the first time in the Wahkiakum CBC’s seventeen years. The Snowy Egret reported on Sunday was not relocated. Thanks to all volunteers!
January/February 2012 Whistler is Online
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The January / February 2012 Whistler
is available now.
Read more of its content:
- Environmental Lobby Day in Olympia;
- Presidents Message;
- Wildlife Sighting: Snowy Owl;
- Membership Application Form;
- Recent Lake Sacajawea Social Review;
- Conservation Issues;
- 2012 Great Backyard Bird Count;
- WHAS 2012 Nomination Form;
- WHAS on Coal;
- Wildlife Sighting: Pied Junco;
- Book Review: Bird Cloud;
- Amphibian Training 2012;
- WHAS Programs and Field Trips;
Final 2011 Cowlitz County Bird List is now available
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It was a stunningly high species count with a great start of unusual waterfowl especially on the Columbia at Woodland, followed by an amazing spring variety of shorebirds, a breeding season with a couple bonuses, a late fall with hordes of out of the area folks visiting for the rarities and finding additions and ending with a New Year's Eve Brown Pelican over the Columbia between Longview and Kalama.
203 species--WOW.
Find the list as a pdf in our Wildlife Sightings area.
WHAS Signs on Against Coal
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Willapa Hills Audubon, as part of the Washington State Audubon Conservation Council (WSACC), has joined in a statewide opposition to coal export from west coast ports.
Snowy Owl in Ridgefield NWR
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A special visitor to the Ridgefield NWR as seen in December 2011.
Barred Owl seen in Longview
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Check this article in the Daily News about a Barred Owl seen in the 30th Ave area in Longview WA.
Also, some locations in Washington and Oregon have reported sightings of snowy owls, which are rarely seen locally.
"Every few years the conditions in the Arctic force some of the owls southward to find adequate food," said local birder and Willapa Hills Audubon Society member Darrel Whipple of Rainier, Oregon.
"At any rate, northwest birdwatchers are excited to see these magnificent birds whenever an irruption occurs. About 25 years ago one of our WHAS members had a Snowy Owl perch on her rooftop in Longview and stay in the neighborhood for a week, creating quite a sensation for the neighbors and local birders."
How many Birds can you see in Washington State?
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According to a recent article in the Seattle Times the present record for most birds seen in Washington State is held by Gene Hunn at 442 out of 505 species known in the state. There are thousands of birdwatchers in the state, but only a relative handful keep serious bird lists. Living up to the excitement in the recent film "The Big Year," bird listing exists for Washington State too.
The record stands at 359th avian species witnessed in the state in 2001 by Marv Breece, of Seattle, and the record is still holding up.
Check out the article for more details.
WHAS members John and Margaret Green featured in The Chronicle
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Here is some great info on birding in our local Cowlitz and Columbia Counties thanks to Willapa Hills Audubon members Margaret and John Green, which were recently interviewed by the St. Helens Chronicle.
"We've had some ducks come into the lake here and people from all over Washington come to see this," said John Green, a long time birder and member of the Willapa Hills Audubon Society. Green and his wife, Margaret, live just across the street from Lake Sacajawea in Longview. The 30-acre park offers some of the best opportunities to get involved in bird watching. "Last year we had a bird that was rare for our area, for our county, and we'd go out and walk the lake and I would run into somebody from Seattle who had come down and hey'd ask where it is," said Margaret.
For more see the article in The Chronicle.
November / December 2011 Whistler is Online
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The November / December 2011 Whistler
is available now.
Read more of its content:
- WHAS Backyard Bird Calendar;
- Membership Application Form;
- Indian Jack Slough Update;
- WHAS Donation to Wake Robin;
- President Message;
- Christmas Bird Count’s 2011 Update;
- Winter Bird Feeding;
- Wildlife Sightings;
- Penguin Program;
- Book Review: Moby Duck;
- Backyard Birding Information;
- WHAS Programs and Field Trips;
- Backyard Birds Calendar 2012 for sale
- Christmas Bird Counts Overview 2011
- Bald Eagle Recovery
- Duckling sightings at Lake Sacajawea
- Urban Bird Adaptations
- Rainier's Vaux's Swifts fall update
- September / October 2011 Whistler is Online
- National Coverage of Proposed Coal Terminal in Longview
- Check out our bird lists
- July / August 2011 Whistler is Online