2018 Cowlitz County Bird List - January Update

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Last Updated: February 01, 2018

As usual our composite year list for Cowlitz County got off to a big start on January 1st with the Christmas Bird Count in the Longview/Kelso area.

Then on the 2nd the first ever Cowlitz record of Common Redpolls were found in Longview's Altrusa Park. And not just a single bird, but a nice flock of sixteen mixed with four American Goldfinch. This tiny finch of the north is not found in western Washington annually, but this has been a banner winter for them. Typically when they are found it is one or two individuals in a flock of Pine Siskins, but this year pure flocks of Common Redpolls have been found in numerous places as far south as Olympia. Even farther south there was a flock near Morton for a first Lewis County record and another group seen on Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge in Wahkiakum County.

This phenomenon could well continue through the winter until they return north in late February. They especially like the catkins of alders and birches and may even show up at a seed feeder so be on the lookout in your neighborhood.

Russ shot the image with his phone held up to the scope eyepiece (digiscoped).

Download the pdf here.

2017 Cowlitz County Bird List - Final

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Last Updated: January 02, 2018

In the last two months we only added one species, that being a Northern Shrike on Canal Road near Toutle. We seem to find this species in the county about half of the years.

This was enough to get us exactly to 200 species in 2017, a threshold that we do not always reach, but well short of our record of 207 species. The lone species new to the list this year was a Long-tailed Jaeger found on the Woodland Bottoms. We had one miss of a species that is typically found in Cowlitz annually, that being Northern Saw-whet Owl. This species is a fairly common winter species in the conifer forests of the county and a few likely nest here. Its absence from the list reflects more on our not seeking it out than the lack of its presence.

Russ Koppendrayer is looking forward to a fun year of birding in 2018 and seeing all your reports either to him directly or through Tweeters or eBird.

Download the pdf here.

Winter 2017 Whistler is online

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Last Updated: December 27, 2017

The Winter 2017 Whistler is available now.

Read more of its content: 

• Darrel Whipple Given Top Conservation Award
• Membership Form
• NW Birding Events
• Local Christmas Bird Count (CBC) times and locations
• Conservation Update
• Vaux Swifts in Rainier Oregon
• New Birding Website for Long Beach Peninsula
• WHAS Officer Nominations 2018
• Update on Natural Resource Center Willapa National Wildlife Refuge
• Pollution into the Green River
• Programs and Fieldtrips

2017 Cowlitz County Bird List - October Update

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Last Updated: November 02, 2017

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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Last Updated: January 04, 2021

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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Last Updated: December 27, 2017

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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Last Updated: February 06, 2023

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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Last Updated: November 02, 2017

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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Last Updated: August 30, 2017

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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Last Updated: July 02, 2017

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.