Mourning dove.

A mourning dove eating the seed I put out.

Snow.

This morning brought more snow to Portland. What a weird winter it has been! First we had all that snow in December. Then, flooding came in January. Once February came, Spring seemed to be here. And now, more snow.

New poll.

Hi everybody! If you noticed, just for fun I added a poll to the sidebar. I thought it would be fun to try :-)

Have a good one!

Gull question..

Today I saw a gull by our house that pretty much exactly matched this picture in my field guide. It had the same tail and it had the heavy beak and head. It also had the same pink legs and the pale grey colour. The picture shows a glaucous x herring gull. Do you think that was what it was?

PFW Week 9

• Dark eyed (Oregon) junco - 11
• Yellow rumped warbler - 1
• Western scrub jay - 2
• House finch - 2
• American crow - 3
• Ruby crowned kinglet - 1
• Black capped chickadee - 2
• Annas hummingbird - 2
• American goldfinch - 2
• Bewick's wren - 2
• Bushtits - 28
• American robin - 4
• Red breasted nuthatch - 1
• European starling - 2
• Northern flicker - 1
• Downy woodpecker - 1
• Song sparrow - 1
• Brown creeper - 1
  

A delayed memorial.

Pine siskin
Found - December 2008 - Died - December 2008.

Golden crowned sparrows.

Lots of golden crowned sparrows around.

A special visit!

Friday, I spotted a peregrine falcon flying by our house! It was very special to see one because I know falcon population is decreasing. I sure hope we will start seeing more peregrine's soon.

Have a good week!

Spring is in the air.

Spring is almost here!

Tualitan River NWR for the GBBC!

Great backyard bird count day #3, Tualitan River National Wildlife Refuge.

1. Bald eagle - 2
2. Bufflehead - 6
3. Northern shoveler - 3
4. Ruddy duck - 3
5. Barrow's goldeneye - 17
6. Canada goose - 60
7. Ring necked duck - 6
8. Lesser scaup - 1
9. Northern pintail - 2
10. American wigeon - 10
11. Eurasian wigeon - 5
12. American coot - 6
13. Killdeer - 2
14. American kestrel - 1
15. Western bluebird - 1
16. Ruby crowned kinglet - 1
17. Mallards - 3
18. Great blue heron - 2
19. Hooded merganser - 2
20. Red tailed hawk - 1
21. American goldfinch - 2
22. Turkey vulture - 1
23. Black capped chickadee - 1
24. Dark eyed (Oregon) junco - 1
25. Double crested cormorant - 1
26. Tree swallow - 2
27. Cackling geese - 71
28. Western scrub jay - 2
    

Time spent watching: 1.5 hours.

P.S. I have video of some birds so I will post it as soon as I edit it.

GBBC count day #1

Koll wetlands, starting at 3:15,

1. Canvasback - 2
2. Ruddy duck - 8
3. Green winged teal - 4
4. American coot - 5
5. Canada geese - 95
6. Common merganser - 8
7. Glaucous winged gull - 1
8. Great blue heron - 3
9. Western sandpiper - 9
10. Pied billed grebe - 1
11. Common goldeneye - 1
12. Northern shoveler - 2
13. Bufflehead - 1
14. Gadwall - 2
    

Time spent watching: 20 minutes.

My backyard, starting at 3:45,

1. Black capped chickadee - 3
2. Northern flicker - 2
3. Western scrub jay - 2
4. Red breasted sapsucker - 1
5. Red breasted nuthatch - 2
6. Bewick's wren - 1
7. Townend's Warbler - 1
8. Yellow rumped warbler - 4
9. House finch - 12
10. American robin - 1
11. Lesser goldfinch - 1
12. Dark eyed (Oregon) junco - 15
13. Downy woodpecker - 1
14. Ruby crowned kinglet - 1
15. Song sparrow - 2
16. American crow - 3
17. Glaucous winged gull - 1
18. European starling - 10
19. Canada geese - 41 (FO)
20. Spotted towhee - 1
21. American goldfinch - 3
22. Red winged blackbird - 1
23. Bushtits - 34
24. Anna's hummingbird - 1

Time spent watching: 1 hour.

I look forward to seeing your count!

GBBC!

The Great Backyard Bird Count starts today! I'm going to go to Koll Wetlands for today's count. I'll post about the first day as soon as I can.


Good luck to everyone!

http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/

PFW Week 8

• American crow - 1
  
• Western scrub jay - 2
• Black capped chickadee - 5
• Dark eyed (Oregon) junco - 15
• Song sparrow - 3
• Ruby crowned kinglet - 1
• Bushtits - 34
• Bewick's wren - 1
• Brown creeper - 1
• House finch - 3
• European starling - 4
• Red breasted nuthatch - 1
• American goldfinch - 1
• Annas Hummingbird - 1
• Spotted towhee - 1
• Yellow rumped warbler - 1
• Townend's warbler 1
• Northern flicker - 1
• Downy woodpecker - 1
• American robin - 1
  

GBC alert!

YEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I JUST SAW A WHITE BREASTED NUTHATCH ON A TREE IN OUR YARD!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'VE WAITED 6 MONTHS AND 8 DAYS FOR THIS BIRD AND HERE IT IS !!!! I just can't believe it! Wait, ARE YOU KIDDING ME ?!? That's a red breasted sapsucker! Another bird I have never seen. I just can't believe it!

Raptor Road Trip!

On Feb. 7 we went to the Raptor Road Trip on Sauvie Island! When we got there we drove past some cormorants near the Sauvie Island bridge. Then we got some information and set out right away to the first viewing spot. Upon arriving at the first place the first thing we saw as soon as we got out of our car was a flock of sandhill cranes!

At the top of the hill we saw two adult bald eagles and their nest, tundra swans and a couple other birds such as jays. Then, on to the second viewing spot. I've never seen so many snow geese in my life! There must have been thousands of them all making a HUGE racket! Between the places there must have been a raptor on every other tree! I've never seen so many eagles, hawks and other raptors!

On our walk up to the third and final viewing spot, we saw more cranes, geese, an eagle, two harriers and some others. When we arrived at the end of the trail we were surprised to see Laura, (aka Birdnerd) from Laura goes birding! She told us that earlier they saw a prairie falcon tear apart a bird :-0! Then we saw another bald eagle, more cranes, a yellow rumped warbler, a downy woodpecker, and some more Canada geese. After a little while we headed back to our car and made our way back to check out the Audubon's Society's education birds.

So that was the story of our trip around the viewing spots. I will tell the rest of the story with some pictures.

Enjoy :-)

This bald eagle was right next to the road.

This was taken through my new binoculars - a bald eagle in its nest.

These were sandhill cranes at viewing spot #3.

Hazel the northern spotted owl - one of Audubon's education birds.

Meet Finnegan the peregrine falcon.

Aristophanes the common raven.


Bird list for the day.

1. Double crested cormorants
2. Sandhill cranes
3. Bald eagle
4. Red tailed hawk
5. American kestrel
6. Snow geese
7. Dark eyed (Oregon) junco
8. Tundra swans
9. Black capped chickadee
10. American coot
11. Western scrub jay
12. Yellow rumped warbler
13. Downy woodpecker
14. Common merganser
15. Northern harrier
16. Canada geese
17. American robin
18. Gull
19. European starling
20. American crow
21. Turkey vulture
    

GBC of February.

I'm in a bit of a stand still with birds so I thought I would post a couple of my best photos taken through my new Nikon Action binoculars of the first five days of the GBC of February!

Enjoy :-)





Have a good one!

GBC of February!

The GBC of February starts today! It's been a great count day for me so far! You can see my list on the sidebar.

Good luck!