WASHOUGAL — Winds buffeted birds and birdwatchers at Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday, but the conditions were adequate for spotting the occasional bird of prey.
Birders in Laura Whittemore’s birds of prey class, through the TreeSong Nature Awareness and Retreat Center spotted, at least, a bald eagle harassing ducks, northern harriers scouting for prey and soaring red-tailed hawks.
While some birds migrate to stay with warmer weather, many birds of prey stick around the area through wintertime, making for quality birdwatching. Birders in Whittemore’s class took advantage of the relatively cooperative weather.
As birders watched a northern harrier dive and weave against the wind just over the grassy fields of the refuge through scopes, binoculars and camera lenses, Whittemore explained that gusty winds tend to keep birds of prey a bit more grounded.
TreeSong Nature Awareness and Retreat Center is a nonprofit near Washougal focused on wildlife education and Whittemore has been teaching about birding for 20 years, including at Hoyt Arboretum, Jackson Bottom Wetlands, Leach Botanical Garden and through the Audubon Society.
The day started with some basics on local birds of prey, specifically local species that stay in the region through winter. That includes bald eagles, northern harriers, peregrine falcons and red-tailed hawks.
Other raptor species move into the area during winter, such as rough-legged hawks and merlins.
In the presentation portion, Whittemore talked about the differences between species, their looks, habitats and behavior, along with good places to find them.
“Because people love birds of prey,” she said. “Because birds of prey are cool.”
Afterward, they went on a field trip to the refuge, where they spotted not just birds of prey, but waterfowl from mallards and grebes to tundra swan and great blue herons.
Generally, Whittemore said, the best spots to spot birds of prey are near water, such as the Steigerwald Lake refuge or the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, with light woodlands, scrub and large fields.
Another thing to watch for is waterfowl, she said. When they’re on the water, there aren’t many animals that try to harass them.
“So if you see waterfowl fly up, there’s a reason,” she said, because it might be a bald eagle, which sometimes eat smaller waterfowl.
Sure enough, at the refuge Sunday, a bald eagle was there amid the ruckus as a flock of birds relaxing in one of the shelter’s lakes suddenly took off in flurry. A pair of bald eagles like to hang out in the trees around the creek, crossed by the first bridge on the refuge’s walking trail. Bring binoculars.
