GIG: Geese in Greenway.

Waterfowl, shorebirds, swallows and blackbirds.

I just thought you might enjoy some evening wetland birds.

See Mr. mallard looking at us?

The first time I've been able to capture (a picture of course) a swallow perching!

A short-billed dowitcher.

Look at all that red on this blackbird!

And finally, wigeon.

Have a great week!

Close encounters at the wetlands.

Yesterday afternoon we payed a short visit to Koll wetlands. As soon as we got out of the car and walked to the edge of the pond there was a red-tailed hawk that swooped down in a mudflat near a killdeer. When he saw us the hawk took flight. We were worried he grabbed one of the killdeer but he ended up only getting a talon full of weeds. Although he only got plants the killdeer were calling rapidly to one another; "Killdeer, Killdeer". They were calling to each other the whole time we were there. Since the killdeer were disoriented I was able to get a rare up close encounter with the bird!

Enjoy!

Hello Mrs. killdeer!

Cool! That's a pintail!

Mrs. killdeer again.

Pintail, a mallard and short-billed dowitchers.

Lots of wigeon!

More wigeon. Also a female Eurasian wigeon! (bottom left).

The male cinnamon teal.

Look who's coming in!

Huh?

Oh no!

Two red-tailed hawks!

Hello!

No don't go in the parking lot!

What?

I can't quite tell what these are.

Me walking up to the male killdeer didn't even phase him! This is not zoomed in!

Bird list for the visit:

• Killdeer
  
• Red-tailed hawk
• Canvasback
• Bufflehead
  
• Western Canada goose
• Cackling goose
• Norther pintail
• American wigeon
• Gadwall
• Mallard
• Great-blue heron
• American coot
• Ruddy duck
• Ring-necked duck
• Greater scaup
• Lesser scaup
• Green-winged teal
• Cinnamon teal
• Northern shoveler
• Eurasian wigeon
• Wilson's snipe
• Short-billed dowitcher
• Tree swallow
• Violet-green swallow
  

Have a great weekend!

New camera!

Woohoo!!! I finally saved up enough money to buy new a new camera!! The camera is a Nikon Coolpix P90. I was amazed by the zoom (24x) and the clarity of the images!

Enjoy!

A honey bee on a dandelion.

A scrub jay perched in a nearby tree.

Just a dandelion.

The daisies are abundant in Greenway.

Another dandelion.

These honey bees are in a tree right behind our fence!

I caught this guy on our patio roof.

And these are just some pretty flowers.

The Japanese maples are full now.

The female bushtit perched next to her nest.

Munching on cherry blossoms?

Have a good week! :-)

First red-tail baby!

YAY! The first red-tailed hawk nestling from downtown Portland hatched!!
If you want to see it go to,
http://www.kgw.com/raptorcam/?nvid=226982&live=yes

Mallard ducklings.

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the lack of posting lately.

I just thought you might enjoy seeing this mallard duckling accompanied by it's parents!

And away they go!

Bird list for the short birding trip,

• Mallard
• Ruddy duck
• Bufflehead
• Green-winged teal
• Cinnamon teal
• Western Canada goose
• Cackling goose
• Marsh wren
• Song sparrow
• Killdeer
• American robin
• Great-blue heron
• Short-billed dowitcher
• Wilson's snipe
• Canvasback
• Lesser scaup
• Greater scaup
• American coot
• Bewick's wren
• Violet-green swallow
• Tree swallow
• Gadwall
• Yellow-rumped warbler
• Black capped chickadee
• Golden-crowned sparrow
• Northern shoveler
• Bushtit
• European starling
• Red-winged blackbird
• American crow
• Western scrub jay
• Northern flicker
• Pied-billed grebe
• Ring-necked duck
• Spotted towhee
• American goldfinch
• Lesser goldfinch
• Mourning dove
• House finch
• English house sparrow
• Dark-eyed junco
• Ruby-crowned kinglet
  

A pleasant surprise!

This morning we found out that one of the pairs of bushtits are building a nest in a tree within four feet of our window! They have been building ever since!

The male bushtit sitting in the incomplete nest.

The male again.

What a pleasant surprise!

Tryon creek state park.

Today we went to Tryon creek state park to look at trillium's.

Some red flowering currents.

An owl box for northern saw-whet owls.

A trillium.

More trillium's.

What are these?

A female hairy woodpecker!

It sure is trillium season!

Thought this would be a pretty picture.

A huge slug.

We had never seen these before! They look cool!

Bird list for the trip,

• Hairy woodpecker
  
• Ruby crowned kinglet
  
• Steller's jay
• Western scrub jay
• Black capped chickadee
• Winter wren
• Spotted towhee
• Song sparrow
• Annas hummingbird (heard)
• Rufous hummingbird (heard)
• Red breasted nuthatch (heard)