Black Hills Audubon Willapa Hills Field Trip Report: October 14, 2023
By Grace Thornton
A group of nine met at the HiIlburger Road parking area of the Willapa Hills Trail. Cloudy and cool but no rain. There were some Golden Crowned Sparrows and Bewick’s Wrens, and we heard a Varied Thrush and Spotted Towhee.
We then headed over to look at Hillburger Pond for possible waterfowl and we did manage to find a few different species. There was a large number of Cackling Geese, mixed with Mallard, Gadwall, Wigeon, a few Ring-Necked Ducks and Greater White Fronted and Canada Geese. Also in the mix were 4 Pied-billed Grebes. Red-winged Blackbirds were in the reeds across the pond, and one Belted Kingfisher gave a flyover.
We worked our way to the trail and spotted many more birds, including Bald Eagle, Song Sparrow, American Robins and many Bewick’s Wrens along the route. As we ventured further down the trail, many of the geese from the pond flew over us in formation. We were able to catch a bit of the solar eclipse and it seemed that the bird activity increased as the eclipse waned.
We were able to find a small flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers, some Golden-crowned Kinglets, and the ever present Black-capped Chickadees. We got a nice look at a group of Cedar Waxwings and a Downy Woodpecker, and many Northern Flickers were present.
All in all, we had a nice birding day, with a good species distribution and some new bird enthusiasts joining us for the trip.
All photos by Elizabeth Hill.
