Russ Koppendrayer's review of early fall:
The last two months has been highlighted by a couple of flycatchers. A Black Phoebe was found in the north end of the Woodland Bottoms in mid-September and has been seen sporadically since. While both our neighboring counties (Clark and Wahkiakum) have had nesting records of this species making its northward expansion, this is only the second record for Cowlitz. It is very possible this bird could over winter at this spot.
The Tropical Kingbird found at Willow Grove in late October was a much bigger surprise. While a small number of this species head north instead of south each fall in migration, they are typically found only on the outer coast in Washington and British Columbia. Finding one even this far inland is quite unusual and was a first record for Cowlitz. Unfortunately, it didn't stay around for many to see.
Image Tropical Kingbird, source: MDF CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Download the pdf file here.