Blog - Willapa Hills Audubon Society

First Ever Black-throated Sparrow seen in Woodland

Details: Last Updated: June 01, 2014

May was an exciting month for rare migrants in Cowlitz County. The headliner had to be the county's first ever record of Black-throated Sparrow. The bird was seen and photographed in a Woodland yard on the 20th and seen briefly the next morning before it disappeared. Primarily a species of the arid southwest U.S., there are a few nesting on arid slopes near Vantage in eastern Washington, but to find a migrant west of the Cascades is very rare.

Other birds recorded less than annually included a Swainson's Hawk seen soaring over the Woodland Bottoms for a few minutes on the 4th, before disappearing to the south. A Wilson's Phalarope was seen by a number of people when it spent the 10th in a Woodland Bottoms pond. Starting on the 15th a Yellow-breasted Chat spent at least 6 days singing at Willow Grove, to delight of many.

While not showing on this list, a hybrid Lazuli x Indigo Bunting was found singing on territory near Cougar on the 29th. With only a handful of records in Washington state, this spot has become famous among folks who are into these phenomenon, since this is the 5th consecutive year for this hybrid at this location.

Lastly a migration extravaganza was witnessed on the 5th as 4000 Band-tailed Pigeons streamed north along the Columbia River at Kalama in a half hour.

Our birdlist for Cowlity County is found here.

2014 Cowlitz County Bird List (January Update)

Details: Last Updated: February 15, 2014

Another year with a nice start, mostly due to a fine Christmas Bird Count on New Years Day. The headliner was the second ever record of Rusty Blackbird for Cowlitz County found on 52nd Ave in west Longview. A Sora found the same day on Washburn Road was very unusual for winter. Keep those reports coming.

You find our bird lists here.

May - June 2014 Whistler is online

Details: Last Updated: December 27, 2017

The May / JUne 2014 Whistler is available now.

WHAS recent Field Trip featured in The Daily News

Details: Last Updated: December 27, 2017

TDN image

Willapa Hills Audubon's recent field trip to local birding locations at an industrial park, a sewage lagoon and a mothballed nuclear power plant was featured in Longview's The Daily News. The participants spotted 51st species that morning including a rare (for Longview) red-shouldered hawk at Willow Grove.

2014 Cowlitz Columbia CBC Recap

Details: Last Updated: March 01, 2015

By Bob Reistroffer

23 field observers and eight feeder watchers joined and spent the cool sunny day finding 17,172 birds with 98 species recorded during the 33^rdCowlity Columbia Christmas Bird Count. The temperature ranged from 21° to 41°. Also during count week an additional 7 species were reported.

We had several high counts: 54 Pied-billed Grebes, 430 Northern Shovelers, 225 Buffelheads, 78 Hooded Mergansers, 4 Cooper’s Hawks, 2 Red-shouldered Hawks, 72 Red-tailed Hawks, 22 Bald Eagles, 264 Mourning Doves, 24 Kingfishers, 24 Downy Woodpeckers, 11 Red-breasted Sapsuckers, 23 Common Ravens, 70 Chestnut-backed Chickadees, 22 Red-breasted Nuthatchs, 946 Oregon Dark-eyed Juncos, 175 White-crowned Sparrows, and 510 Golden-crowned Sparrows.

Seen during count week: Green Heron, Rough-legged Hawk, Long-billed Dowitcher, Horned Lark, Pygmy Owl, Saw-whet Owl, and Gray Jay.

Not seen for many years: 1 Hutton’s Vireo, 4 Brown-headed Cowbirds.

Thank you all for a great job. Hope to see you all next year on Friday, Jan 1, 2016.

January - February 2014 Whistler is online

Details: Last Updated: December 27, 2017

The January / February 2014 Whistler is available now.

2014 Leadbetter Point Count Recap

Details: Last Updated: March 01, 2015

By Suzy Whittey ~ Organizer ~ Long Beach, WA

I want to thank the 23 property owners who live around Willapa Bay and other key locations that granted the 42 birders in 8 sectors access to count birds on December 20, 2014 for the 115th Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count. The information gathered in the Christmas Bird Counts that happened all across North America is invaluable to ornithologists who monitor bird populations.

The hardy birders, some who traveled over 100 miles to have the opportunity to count birds in Pacific County braved a wet and windy day with posted high surf advisories that did not allow the Pacific beach to be counted this year. But the stormy weather brought species like Red Phalaropes, Western Sandpipers and Snowy Plovers inland to be seen in puddles along G Street in Surfside and the Beach Barron Field on Sandridge Road. The Bay Center Group saw 7 Snow Geese and 16,000 Dunlin in Willapa Bay. But, their highlight was a rare sighting of a Townsend Solitaire. Other groups documented a Barred Owl, Wilson Snipe, Canvasback Ducks, Eurasian Widgeon, White-winged Scoter, Trumpeter Swans and Spotted Sandpipers just to mention a few.

Even though the number of birds and the number of species were down this year, most of it can be attributed to the stormy weather. Thank you birders for your time and expertise in making the Leadbetter Christmas Bird Count a huge success. I also want to thank the Berry Patch Restaurant in Ocean Park and the Hunters Inn in Naselle for serving us breakfast and dinner.

We had several high counts: 3 American Bitterns, 32 Great Egrets, 221 Buffleheads, 69 Ruddy Duck,s 306 Eurasian Collared-Doves, 24 Belted Kingfishers, 29 Anna’s Hummingbirds, 20 Common Ravens 13 Brown Creepers, 25 Western Meadowlarks.

Seen during count week: 5 Cinnamon Teals, 1 Ruffed Grouse, 1 Ring-billed Gulls, 1 Horned Larks, 3 Cedar Waxwings.

New to the count this year: 1 Sora, 1 Rusty Blackbird

Thank you to Don Coggswell, Darrel Whipple, Stephen & Irene Bachhuber, Jeff Jendro, Julius & Sue Strid, Rachelle Rogers, Ramona Leber, Russ Koppendrayer, John & Margaret Green, Rachel Perry, Sam Sudar, Denise & James Caldwell, Charlotte Persons, Mary Huels, Becky Kent, and Pat & Bob Reistroffer for a great job.

2014 Great Backyard Bird Count

February 14 - 17

The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers
of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the
continent and in Hawaii. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It
takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of
the event. It’s fun, and easy—and it helps the birds. Everyone is encouraged to make the
most of the 2014 GBBC. The count is led by the National Audubon Society and the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The GBBC website includes more information at www.birdcount.org ,
along with photos from last year's count, and other materials, including a tally sheet.

Hope to see you all next year on Thursday, Jan 1, 201

Dead Eagle found in Longview

Details: Last Updated: February 15, 2014

On December 27, during his daily walk around Lake Sacajawea in Longview, John Green found a dead Bald Eagle at the edge of the lake. It is illegal to collect wild birds, per the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, so he did not touch the bird, determined to find the proper action to take.

Upon arriving home, he called Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, who were not interested (maybe not their jurisdiction) and recommended to call Portland Audubon. Audubon gave him the number for the Federal Fish and Wildlife office. These folks have committed to picking up the bird, which upon their direction was stored in a plastic bag in his freezer. They advised that there is a demand for Native American ceremonial use and the feathers will be donated after a necropsy is performed to determine cause of death.

It has been determined that the eagle died in a collision with a motor vehicle probably in flight over the Washington Way bridge.

November - December 2013 Whistler is online

Details: Last Updated: December 27, 2017

The November / December 2013 Whistler is available now.

How the NorthWest Weather can affect bird migration

Details: Last Updated: December 27, 2017

Cliff Mass provides some interesting news of how the weather radar can be used to track and check on bird migration. Over the last week we had mostly wind from the south and birds don't like headwinds. Recently this has changed and now the birds are really on the move.

Check out his blog.