Here at the end of April we have new species arriving daily to add to our composite Cowlitz County year list as we near the heart of spring migration. Not a lot of unexpected species during the past month were reported. The most interesting was an American Goshawk that was seen chasing Band-tailed Pigeons around a rural yard near Toutle. A regular breeder in the forests on the east slopes of the Cascade Mountains, it is much more uncommon on our side. Records in Cowlitz County seem to occur every few years and have included birds in winter as well as possible breeding birds in June. While a few Goshawks are known to overwinter, most do migrate south. Our April individual was likely a returning migrant that stopped to try for a meal as it passed through.

Enjoy the on going migration and good birding to all.

In the last two months of 2024 we added three species to our Cowlitz County year list. The most exciting was a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak that visited a Longview backyard feeder for a few days that a couple avid birders were fortunate to be able to photograph. This was a first ever record for the county. Nearly as rare was a third record of Yellow-billed Loon found in the Columbia River at the Woodland Bottoms and seen by a number of birders. Considered annual in the county, a Red-throated Loon was seen at Willow Grove in the last week of the year as it made a brief stop out from a couple birders before continuing downstream.  This was the last of our annually expected species in the nick of time.

A quick recap of the entire year showed that in addition to seeing all the expected species we experienced many less than annual species including eight that had less than five previous county records.  Not included in those eight were two species that had never been documented in the county before. In addition to the already mentioned Rose-breasted Grosbeak, there was a Slaty-backed Gull found in the Woodland Bottoms during the spring smelt run.

We ended the year with 207 species, just two shy of our record of 209, but definitely above our yearly average. 

Here's to another great year of birding the area in 2025.

For the first time there were zero new species found in the last two months of the year in Cowlitz County. It wasn't for lack of coverage as there was a normal amount of birding activity in November and December, just nothing was found that hadn't been recorded earlier in 2023. The only miss of a species that typically occurs annually was Red-throated Loon, and they are usually quite infrequent in the Columbia River in winter. We did finish with an above average total of 207 species for the year.

We did add two new species to our county list during 2023. Most amazing was the Laysan Albatross that was found injured at Willow Grove. This species of the open ocean met with success at a rehab center and later returned to the Pacific Ocean with an assist from the Coast Guard. The other new species was also a salt water specialist. The Brandt's Cormorant was initially found in the Columbia River near Kalama on January 1st and last seen from the Port of Longview the next day.

Here's to a great year of birding in 2024.

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.

As usual the last two months of the year didn't add many species to our Cowlitz County year list. The three additions included a Ring-necked Pheasant in November. This species seems to be getting more difficult to find each year and my take is that they are no longer successfully breeding in the county and we are only finding them after WDFW does their fall release in the Woodland Bottoms for the hunters. Also found were Red-throated Loon and Pacific Loon which are both not quite annual in the county. Amazingly they were both seen in the Columbia River at the mouth of the Kalama River on the late date of December 29.

Our final species list of 204 is above average, but short of our all time best record of 209 species set in 2020. The only species completely new to the list was Great Gray Owl. We did not have any misses for species that are expected annually. 

As of this writing we are already getting going on our 2022 list. Enjoy the birding in 2022.

Two species have been added to the list since the last report two months ago. This gives us the most species found in Cowlitz County in one year over the life of this project. The first addition was a Heermann's Gull that was actually seen in mid October, but didn't get through the eBird review in time for the October report. This was the third ever record for the county for this gull that has a strong attachment to salt water. While we have three records, Wahkiakum county just downstream on the Columbia River has only one record and the next county upstream (Clark) has never witnessed this visitor. Heermann's Gull is a handsome mostly gray gull whose favorite foraging technique is to follow Brown Pelicans when they plunge dive on baitfish and take advantage of any fish stirred up or spilled by the pelicans.  

The second addition was a White-tailed Kite that appeared for a couple days at Willow Grove. This species has become quite rare anywhere in Washington in the last twelve years. After being well established in the southwest part of the state, their range has regressed southward with the nearest population now in the Tillamook, Oregon area.

As previously stated there is now a new county highest total for species in a year. These 209 species include the three that were new to the county. We added Gray Flycatcher, Siberian Accentor, and American Redstart to our list in 2020.

We'll see what 2021 has to offer for birding excitement and pleasure, and good birding to all.

We wrapped up an exciting year of birding by adding three species to our year list in the last two months. White-winged Scoter, Wild Turkey, and Mountain Chickadee are all code 4 species, meaning there are at least five previous records in Cowlitz County, but they appear less than annually. This brought our year total to 206, bested only by our 2015 record of 207. 

Cassin's Auklet and Lark Sparrow were species seen in the county for the first time and documented on eBird. This brings the number of species documented in Cowlitz to 280. In addition eight code 5 (1-4 previous records) species were recorded, with the most exciting being the Eastern Kingbird pair that were also documented fledging two chicks.

Our big miss was Western Sandpiper which went unrecorded in spite of being an annual visitor.

I believe this was the first time in the history of this project that we added NO new species in the final two month period. Never the less we had a very nice year breaking through the 200 barrier again with 201 species.

Three of those species were seen in the county for the first time ever. They were as follows: A Broad-winged Hawk was seen by an experienced hawk watcher who happened to be counting migrating Turkey Vultures in September at the Woodland Bottoms. A flock of Common Redpolls at a west Longview park in January that were part of a massive irruption of this species in all of Washington during the  winter of '17-'18. Also a Dickcissel made a stop at a bird bath north of Kelso in early June and was photographed by the owner.

The only species that was a big miss was Dunlin, a shorebird that can over winter here in small numbers, and if we miss them then we find them in spring migration. Not this year for whatever reason. 

On to a new year of exciting birding in Cowlitz County to see what it has to offer.

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.

We had another fine year with 204 species in the county. We seem to be able to break the 200 species barrier with more regularity in recent years, likely a product of both more birders as well as better reporting.

Thanks to all who shared their finds on Tweeters and/or eBird as well as those who contacted me separately.

Our only miss of birds usually seen annually in the county was Long-billed Dowitcher, a shorebird that migrates through both spring and fall. We missed it in the spring, and the really dry summer and fall left us with almost none of its preferred mudflat habitat for possible fall sightings.

Highlights from the last two months included an Acorn Woodpecker that visited a feeder in the Goble Creek area for about a week and was seen by numerous birders. This  was the third ever record for the county, and amazingly they are in 2014, 2015, and 2016 all in late fall or winter.

Also found was our second ever Palm Warbler that spent a couple days in Willow Grove Park during a snow event, foraging on the ground in snow free spots under trees and near sidewalks.

Russ Koppendrayer's review of 2015:

What a finish to a record breaking year! We finished with 207 species in 2015 which is four more than our previous high. Capping the final months was a Yellow-throated Warbler that spent two weeks at Lake Sacajawea Park in Longview and was seen by more than 50 birders and well documented with photographs. As well as a first for Cowlitz, this bird was only the third ever for all of Washington. While searching for the warbler a pair of birders found Cowlitz's first ever Northern Mockingbird a couple blocks from the park. This bird also was also seen by many observers during its twelve day stay. To end our fantastic stretch the county's third record of Rusty Blackbird was found in the Woodland Bottoms just before sunset on December 31.

Russ Koppendrayer's take on 2014:

We finished the last couple months of 2014 with a couple of nice finds in Cowlitz County. The county's first ever Acorn Woodpecker visited a Longview feeder for three days in late November. Also the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife website had a photo of Snow Bunting taken in December on their Mount Saint Helen's Wildlife Area. Not a source I've ever checked, but I was alerted to it by a friend in Spokane.

This was our eighth year of this project and the averages are beginning to be meaningful. The 197 species in the county this year is above our 191 average but short of the 2011 record of 203. 

We did not add any species in the last month of the year, but ended with a respectable 197. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this effort during the year. We are off to a nice start for 2014 with a good CBC on New Years Day. Keep those reports of finds coming whether by email to me or via eBird or Tweeters posts. One of the fruits of this effort is the update of the abundance codes on the county checklists. I think the recent update has them reflecting what we actually find better than ever. To get a checklist go to wabirder.com and select checklists before clicking on Cowlitz County on the map.

This is the final Cowlitz County Bird List for 2012

This is the final Cowlitz County Bird List for 2011

This is the final Cowlitz county Bird List for 2010.