2020 Cowlitz County Bird List - June Update

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Last Updated: July 07, 2020

By Russ Koppendrayer

For the month of June we only added a half dozen species to our Cowlitz County year list, however two of them were quite unusual. A female Acorn Woodpecker put in a morning appearance on 6/11 at a feeder on Pleasant Hill Road and was photographed, only to never be seen again. This supplied the fifth record for the county and an exciting lifer for the home owners. 

The very next morning on 6/12 an adult male American Redstart was found singing on some Port of Kalama property that is accessible to the public. This first ever record for Cowlitz County was joined by a female a few days later and both birds persist at that location until this writing at the end of June and have been seen by numerous birders. No evidence of nesting at this point, except for the presence of the pair. I consider this an "about time" find as we are the thirty-fifth out of the thirty-nine Washington counties to record this species. However the vast majority of counties have only records of migrating birds, especially in the fall, so having a pair on territory is a special treat. We'll try to keep a watch on this pair to see if there are further developments.    

Be healthy and safe out there.

Download the pdf here.

2020 Cowlitz County Bird List - May Update

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Last Updated: June 04, 2020

By Russ Koppendrayer

This has been the spring to find flycatchers migrating through Cowlitz County that will do their nesting on the east side of the Cascade Mountains. We started with our unprecedented numbers of Western Kingbird sightings. While this species appears annually in Cowlitz County during spring migration, this year there were numerous records including one of ten individuals in one small area of the Woodland Bottoms. The previous record size for one group was six last year, and there were many fewer occurrences that year.

Next a Dusky Flycatcher made an appearance in the Woodland Bottoms producing the third county record for this species. Dusky Flycatcher always makes spring migration appearances in a few western Washington locations, but our bird seemed to be one of an abnormally high number of sightings.

Lastly a Gray Flycatcher was found along Barlow Point Road giving Cowlitz its first ever record for this species. Much more rarely seen in western Washington, our bird was also part of a bigger than usual count. Thurston and Pierce counties to our north also saw their first ever records of Gray Flycatcher. This species has been making a big population increase as a breeding species in eastern Washington in the last couple decades which may account for a few more using this side of the Cascades for a migration route, or the bonus sightings may have been an outlier. Time will tell.

Enjoy the breeding season and be safe and healthy.

Download the pdf here.

Program: Exploring the Waters Of The Pacific Northwest

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Last Updated: July 08, 2020

Kyleen Austin's presentation "Exploring the Waters Of The Pacific Northwest", that was canceled in March, has been rescheduled as a live-streamed event on Youtube at 2 PM, June 28, 2020.

The YouTube channel can be found here.

It is the story with photographs of Austin's epic journey kayaking from Alaska to Washington during Summer, 2019.

Summer 2020 Whistler is online

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Last Updated: May 26, 2020

The Summer 2020 Whistler is available now.

Read more of its content: 

• President message: Earth Month
• Invitation to the Annual Picnic
• Volunteer with Purple Martin Count and Banding
• Sharp-shinned Hawk Predator to Hummingbirds
• WHAS Board Notes/Election Results
• Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey nets 74
• Audubon Society Winter Raptor Survey Project
• Conservation Matters – Chehalis River Dam
• Richard Louv Article Brings Kids and Parents Together with Nature
• New species at our farm
• Spring Migration of Swifts documented at Rainier Church
• Membership Form
• Program: Exploring the Waters of the Pacific Northwest

2020 Cowlitz County Bird List - April Update

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Last Updated: June 04, 2020

By Russ Koppendrayer

I'm amazed at the size of our list at the end of April. As migration gets really going in earnest it is usually a month of lots of new species, but with the shelter in place rules I thought we'd struggle a bit this year to see them all. Our composite list does not seem to reflect that however.

With the reporting of birds found on personal property and folks getting out a bit to get some exercise we seem to have found a very nice selection of birds. However, even our most avid birders seem to have seen a smaller percentage of the species on this list than in a typical year.

While we had a few species found in April that are less than annual in Cowlitz, even those were not particularly rare, but seen in most years. Hopefully we can all continue to enjoy the ongoing migration and stay safe and healthy at the same time.

Download the pdf here.

Kids' Activity Pages

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Last Updated: April 16, 2020

By Larry Brandt

We know how bored and upset kids can get at times when their activities are restricted.  Perhaps we have an answer for parents and grandparents caring for grade school kids during the covid-19 pandemic.  We have seven pages of things for kids to do at home. Of course, they are conservation, outdoor and environment related. Hopefully, they will provide your youngsters with hours of entertainment.  

All pages were developed by Suzy Whittey, a long-time member of Willapa Hills Audubon. Each comes as a .pdf file that you can open (and download) by clicking the image. Then just print them and you are set.

Bird Color Page

Bird Word Search

Color Annimals of the NW

Spy in the Woods

Wetland Word Search

Wildlife Homes

Match Animal Tracks

2020 Cowlitz County Bird List - March Update

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Last Updated: April 04, 2020

By Russ Koppendrayer

We only added 9 species to our year list in March. Two things would seem to account for this; first that we found many of the early arriving migrants on the last week of February leaving few for March, and second the coronavirus pandemic which has naturally caused much less birder action in the field.

Our mega vagrant from February, the Siberian Accentor, was last seen on March 26th giving it at least a fifty day stay. Whether it has left or just not seen because no one is making thorough efforts is unknown. A phenomenal visit in either case.

Two species that are less than annual put in brief appearances in Cowlitz County this month. A Say's Phoebe was seen in  the Woodland Bottoms and a Mountain Bluebird passed through Willow Grove. I know that migration will begin to pick up steam as spring advances, but above all stay safe and healthy.

If you do find new species at home of safe forays out please document to eBird, Tweeters or send me a personal note. 

Download the pdf here.

36th Cowlitz-Columbia CBC Results

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Last Updated: March 03, 2020

By Bob Reistroffer

On Wednesday, January 1, 2020 the 36^th Cowlitz-Columbia Christmas Bird Count (3CBC) was conducted. We had 18 field observers and 2 feeder watchers out for the day peering through rain and low clouds and finding 95 species of birds. The species count this year was in the normal range for this count.

The count circle was begun informally in 1982 with 57 species and 4,545 individual birds found. In 1984, after two informal years, we started our first official 3CBC.

This year (our 36^th official count) we found 95 species and 11,732 individuals. We recorded some all time individual high counts; 32 Great Egret, 30 Wood Duck, 16 Thayer’s Gull, 27 Common Raven, plus 5 Eurasian Wigeon. There were some Low counts too, 24 Common Merganser, 15 House Finch. Also we had 5 count week birds Ross’s Goose, White-Throated Sparrow, Barred Owl, Ruffed Grouse, and Hermit Thrush

Thank you to all our field observers and feeder watchers.

Wahkiakum CBC Results

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Last Updated: March 03, 2020

By Andrew Emlen

On December 30, 2019, 25 volunteers participated in the 22nd annual Wahkiakum CBC. Calm weather and 47 degree F temperatures allowed us to find over 51,000 individuals of 119 species, our second highest species tally and just one shy of our all-time high of 120 species.

The most abundant species in the circle this winter was Cackling Goose, with a tally of 20,967, breaking the previous high count of 16,099. Second was Greater Scaup with a tally of 4878, along with 3072 Greater/Lesser Scaup. Third was European Starling at 3663. A Northern Waterthrush at the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge tide gate was not only new to the count but also a Wahkiakum County first. Many birders went to see it in the days following the count.

A Lesser Yellowlegs in Brownsmead and a trio of California Quail on Shingle Mill Road were also new to the count. Other unusual species included Barrow's Goldeneye, Clark's Grebe, and Common Yellowthroat. For the third winter running, three Turkey Vultures are wintering on Puget Island; this winter, all three were seen on count day.

The endangered "Streaked" Horned Larks appear to be thriving under the Army Corps of Engineers' management for them on Whites Island; 36 were seen in the circle on count day.

New high counts were set for Cackling Goose, Trumpeter Swan (20, previous high 9), American Kestrel (39, previous high 20), Chestnut-backed Chickadee (144, previous high 119), Red-winged Blackbird (873, previous high 801), and Brown-headed Cowbird (13, previous high 9).

Notable misses included Rock Pigeon and Great Horned Owl.

Leadbetter Christmas Bird Count Results

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Last Updated: March 03, 2020

By Robert Sudar

Strong coastal storm systems in the preceding days gave way to better weather on Saturday, December 21^st, as 29 intrepid counters took part in the Leadbetter Point Christmas Bird Count.  The count circle is centered in Willapa Bay and includes about half of the Long Beach Peninsula along with a considerable portion of land on the east side of the bay.  The counters were distributed over seven portions of the circle, recording species and numbers from before daylight (when a Great Horned Owl was heard!) until dusk.  Overall, 97 species were seen (or heard) on count day and two more during “count week”. 

As has been the case every year there were some interesting results, both encouraging and disappointing.  On a positive note, there were record numbers of Pacific Loon (8), Pied-bill Grebe (27), Spotted Towhee (86), Brown Creeper (8), Double-crested Cormorant (128), Red-winged Blackbird (500), Brewer’s Blackbird (192), Bald Eagle (58), Pine Siskin (953), Ring-billed Gull (1425!), Eurasian-collared Dove (125) and Belted Kingfisher (28).  That’s a lot of new record highs!

On the other hand, there were no Scaups of either species at all, along with no Mourning Doves and only a single Coot.  There were also no Great Egrets or Bitterns, species which are not always seen but still a disappointment when we can’t include them.  I remember seeing my first Great Egret on the 1981 count, the first time I participated, in the Bay Center area.  I find it interesting that I now see them so frequently in the Longview area, but they appear to remain only an occasional visitor to the coast.