2023 Cowlitz County Bird List - May Update
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By Russ Koppendrayer
May saw the spring neotropical migrants continue to arrive and were enjoyed by many birders. For us in Cowlitz County the rarest to be seen were a couple of Lark Sparrows at the sediment retention dam on the Toutle River. For some reason this large sparrow with a striking appearance was seen in unusually large numbers in western Washington this spring. In our state they seem to prefer rocky slopes with some short grass east of the Cascade Mountains for breeding. Only the second record for the county consisted of the two individuals together foraging for seeds in the short grass on top of the sediment retention structure.
Dusky Flycatchers which appear as a code 5 species in the attached list were seen in two locations near Coldwater Lake in May. Code 5 means less than five records for the county and should definitely have been updated to code 4 last year. At any rate this species, formerly difficult to find in Cowlitz County, may have nested in the brushy slopes of the St. Helens blowdown area last summer and may be trying to do the same this year. Not all that surprising as they have bred nearby in similar habitat upslope around the mountain in Skamania County.
Download the pdf here.
Summer 2023 Whistler is available
- Details
The Summer 2023 Whistler is available now.
Read more of its content:
- Bird Listening – President’s message
- Birders Needed to Identify Marbled Murrelets
- Vaux Swift Dinner and Roost Viewing
- An Invitation to Explore the Legacy of John James Audubon
- 2022 Willapa Bay CBC Results
- Earth Day 2023 Recap
- Birding in Oaxaca, Mexico
- Invitation to the Annual Picnic
Birders needed to identify marbled murrelets
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By Larry Brandt
Willapa Hills Audubon is looking for two to four volunteers with some very special birding skills for a May/June project. We have an opportunity to stop the harvest of some legacy [near old growth] trees. Lidar surveying indicates many to be as tall as 200-ft. The grove, consisting of douglas fir, hemlock, cedar and red alder, is located in the Grays river watershed north of Naselle WA. This is Washington Department of Natural Resources managed forest. No private property would be included in the survey.
Determining the presence of marbled murrelet would cancel logging operations and preserve this habitat for murrelets, spotted owls and deep forest wildlife. We learned of this cutting too late in the year to employ radar identification, hence, our need for feet on the ground.
Volunteers must have some experience identifying marbled murrelets during their dusk and dawn flights between the forest canopy and the ocean. Positive identification may include call recognition as well as visual sighting. We propose to cove at least three day of observations (dusk and dawn) but any would be of benefit and more would be superb.
An exceptional viewing location overlooks the entire site and then as far west as the Pacific ocean. Access to the viewing location is via nine miles of unlocked DNR logging road off of highway #4 at Salmon creek east of Naselle. Mile-by-mile directions are available including several formats of mapping. Elevations range from 640-ft. to 1760-ft. The viewing team may allow inexperienced birders wishing to learn.
Interested birders please contact
2023 Cowlitz County Bird List - April Update
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By Russ Koppendrayer
April migration was fairly typical with a trickle of new species for most of the month and then a rush of new finds in the last week as migration started to reach its peak. Birds will continue to pour through the area for the next few weeks before tailing off again. No big rarities were found, just a few Code 4s, which means they have occurred in Cowlitz at least five times but are not seen annually. A Northern Goshawk seen at Canal Road was the most unusual of this group as we go numerous years between records of this species.
In early April I was made aware of an incredible bird found in Cowlitz County during February. An injured Laysan Albatross found at Willow Grove was captured and sent to PAWS (Progressive Animal Welfare Society) in Lynnwood, Washington to be rehabbed. Not only is this family of birds typically found over the open ocean, but this particular species is found in very low numbers off the Washington coast. The rehab was successful and with an assist from the Coast Guard the bird was released a few miles out into the Pacific Ocean.
Download the pdf here.
2023 Cowlitz County Bird List - March Update
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By Russ Koppendrayer
As we continued into early spring in March the species list grew slowly, but some very interesting birds were found.
A Chipping Sparrow in the Woodland Bottoms was either over a month early or more likely a bird that had over wintered in the area. A Golden Eagle in the Cascade foothills and Say's Phoebes at both Woodland and Kalama are species found in Cowlitz County most years, but not annually. A Pelagic Cormorant seen from the Longview waterfront flying upstream on the Columbia River was the fourth record for the county. Last, but certainly not least was a Clay-colored Sparrow found in the Woodland Bottoms. While this was the third record of this species in Cowlitz County, it was the first in twenty years, with the most recent being in November of 2003.
Here's looking forward to more excitement and much enjoyment as the summer breeders and migrants just passing through become more numerous over the next couple months. Enjoy!
Download the pdf here.
2023 Cowlitz County Bird List - February Update
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By Russ Koppendrayer
While we added some nice species to our composite year list in February, none of them fit in the rarity category.
The smelt runs up the Columbia River and its Cowlitz County tributaries is one of the great spectacles of nature. These tiny but highly nutritious fish attract hordes of predators as they come upstream, including many sea lions, hundreds of Bald Eagles and thousands of gulls. Typically during a large smelt run (this year was one) we find a few vagrant gull species as mixed with the huge flocks of the usual seven species. This year a single Bonaparte's Gull was the sole oddity found in spite of a fairly robust effort by knowledgeable birders. While not one of our regular seven winter species it's not quite a rarity as we expect to see a few during their spring migration in April.
A middle of February sighting of Barn Swallow was also about two months early although winter records of the species are becoming more frequent. All other additions to the list were expected arrivals or resident species we happened to miss in January.
Download the pdf here.
Spring 2023 Whistler is available
- Details
The Spring 2023 Whistler is available now.
Read more of its content:
- Renewal and Rebirth – Presidents message
- WHAS Board Looks to Change Chapter Name
- New Avian Interpretive Signs for Lake Sacajawea Park
- Sparse results for the 2023 Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey
- 2022 Breeding Bird Survey Summary
- Volunteers Needed at Earth Day booth
- Cowlitz Columbia Christmas Bird Count results
- Membership Form
- NW Birding Events
WHAS Board Looks to Change Chapter Name
- Details
From the WHAS Board
At a special board meeting recently a majority of the board present voted unanimously to begin a process of investigation into a name change to the organization.
By consensus a committee has been appointed to begin this process and the end result will most likely be a name change that won’t include the name Audubon but will honor our founding as a National Audubon chapter in 1975.
The board took this action after more than a year’s discussion of the issue and the special two hour meeting held on February 11, ending with the resolution to seriously look into a name change.
The discussion has been ongoing since at least 2021 when National Audubon began in earnest to address JJ Audubon’s flawed character and slave-holding past. That discussion followed efforts to make Audubon more inviting to a new and more inclusive generation of Americans, and evolved into a national debate on whether to retain the Audubon name.
A decision on that discussion is expected to conclude soon. Similarly, Seattle Audubon decided last year to drop Audubon from that chapter’s name and is expected to announce a new name sometime in June. Several other chapters nationwide have also decided to change their names, and still others await the decision at the national level.
With all this in mind, and more, the WHAS board has decided to move forward but on our own terms. We acted with a nod to the future and our ability to gain new members and also to be more impactful. We noted that the organization was never primarily about Mr Audubon and his personal story but about birding and by changing the name we can move forward cleanly. We also believe this can be done without striking off JJ Audubon’s achievements in ornithology, but by carefully re-examining him, and his history, with solid and nuanced scholarship.
We counsel care at the national and state level of Audubon, to move with a transition plan in place if the name is changed; and for continuing cooperation with all current chapters, if not. We want to emphasize the legacy of respect that the Audubon Society has built in the US and around the world, the citizen science and the conservation efforts to protect all bird species and their habitats.
Again, WHAS has benefited from our relationship with the wider world of Audubon and so the board is most concerned about this issue of transition here in Washington state, where the statewide Audubon WA is so effective.
The board continues to be open to comments from you chapter members, get in contact through our Contact page. As of now, there is no timeline for action and any change will be the result of careful consideration and a continuing conversation with you.
41st Cowlitz Columbia CBC Result
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By Bob Reistroffer
On January 1, 2023 the 41st 3CBC was held as part of Audubon's 123rd Christmas Bird Count. Thirteen field observers and one feeder watcher joined and spent a partially
sunny day finding 9,608 birds and 99 species. The temperature ranged from 40° to 46°. This was the cool day with a low fog in the morning and partly cloudy in the
afternoon.
We had a couple of new birds to this count:
- 1 Brandt’s Cormorant,
- 1 American Pipit
Sightings during the count week:
- Common Loon,
- Snow Goose,
- Sharp-shinned Hawk,
- Peregrine Falcon,
- Great Horned Owl,
- Eurasian Wigeon,
- Northern Harrier,
- Short-billed (Mew Gull),
- Pileated Woodpecker,
- Brown-headed Cowbird.
Thank you all for a great job. Hope to see you all next year on Monday, Jan 1, 2024.
*** Change of note for 2024 ***
I would like to say welcome and thank you to Becky Kent who has volunteered to take over the compilation of the 3CBC
2023 Cowlitz County Bird List - January Update
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By Russ Koppendrayer
After not adding any new species to our complete list in 2022 we started off the new year with a bang by adding Brandt's Cormorant before noon on the 1st. This fish eating bird has a strong proclivity for salt water and very rarely would come this far upstream on the Columbia River. Found first at the end of Sportsman's Club Road, it was spotted again that day across the river from the Rainier Marina. On the morning of January 2nd it was seen for the last time near the Lewis and Clark Bridge.
Another rarity for the month was our fourth record of Ross's Goose, found mid month floating in the Columbia at Woodland in a large raft of diving ducks.
As usual we got the month off to a fine start with the Christmas Bird Count giving us a nice number of species on January 1st. Here's to a great year of birding for all of you.
Download the pdf here.
- 2022 Cowlitz County Bird List - Final
- Winter 2022 Whistler is available
- 2022 Cowlitz County Bird List - October Update
- Vaux Swifts Fall Migration in full swing
- 2022 Cowlitz County Bird List - August Update
- Fall 2022 Whistler is available
- Summer 2022 Whistler is available
- 2022 Cowlitz County Bird List - May Update
- 2022 Cowlitz County Bird List - April Update
- Cowlitz PUD Osprey Cam 2022