By Russ Koppendrayer
During the last two months of 2022 we added three species to our Cowlitz year list. All of them were waterfowl found in the Woodland to Kalama stretch of the Columbia River. Red-breasted Merganser and Pacific Loon we find most years with an occasional miss. The Clark's Grebe was the prize find of the period as we can go numerous years between sightings of this species.
Overall 2022 was a great year for birders in Cowlitz County with the 208 species recorded being only one shy of our all time record of 209. We had no misses of our annually expected species. Also there were no new species added to the all time list with super rarity finds. Of the species that started the year with less than five records we managed to locate nine.
2023 got off to a rousing start when a bird was found from a species never before seen in Cowlitz County. But that remains to be detailed here a month from now. Time to get out there and enjoy another year of birding.
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