Summer in closing

This summer has been one heck of a birding adventure.  

Multiple coastal birding trips.

Malheur.

Coos Bay shorebird festival and pelagic tour.

Three sisters.

Country livin'/birds galore. 

Lifers, lifers, lifers!

After reviewing my list of summer birds I wanted to see, I did better than I expected:

• Bulldock's Oriole
• Blue-Winged Teal
• Virginia Rail
• Pigeon Guillemot
• Common Nighthawk
• Olive-Sided Flycatcher
• Western Wood-Pewee
• Willow Flycatcher
• Hutton's Vireo
• Warbling Viero
• Bank Swallow
• Northern Rough-Winged Swallow
• Purple Martin
• House Wren
• Black-Throated Gray Warbler
• Wilson's Warbler - I had seen only one once last summer and hoped to see them again, and boy did I ever! Lots-o-Wilson's! 
• Chipping Sparrow - Again, one I had already seen, a while back and wanted to see again.
• Lazuli Bunting
• Eared Grebe
• Black-Crowned Night-Heron
• Swainson's Hawk
• Black-Necked Stilt
• American Avocet
• Wilson's Phalarope
• Williamson's Sapsucker
• Say's Phoebe
• Western Kingbird
• Loggerhead Shrike
• Lark Sparrow
• Brewer's Sparrow

I even saw some birds left over from my winter's list:

• Pacific Loon
• Clark's Grebe
• White-Faced Ibis

The birds left on my summer list, I have yet to see:

• Sora
• Cassin's Vireo
• Long-Billed Curlew
• Common Poorwill
• Black-Chinned Hummingbird
• Calliope Hummingbird
• Red-Naped Sapsucker
• Dusky Flycatcher
• Gray Flycatcher

Maybe next Summer?  
Next I need to work on a new winter list, can't wait!

In other developments, at the end of August we moved out of the country Manning house and back into an apartment in Beaverton.  It's for the better, despite all the cool birds and wildlife there, but I would like to finish this post with one last look at the end of my summer in Manning.

Pine Siskins

The always present, White-Crowned Sparrow

Pretty purple flowers

Odd bark of a birch tree

Weeds are pretty too

Lots of pretty purple flowers

A juvenile White-Crowned Sparrow

Handsome American Robin

Eating worms

Spotted Towhee

The resident ground hog.  I was glad to see him make new holes all summer, despite the land lord's talk of 'gassing him'. :(

My indoor cat, Thomas, got to walk around the yard with me and pretend to hunt for mice.

The bird bath visited by many of the birds.  The jays liked to drink from it.

Lots of feathers, mostly Steller's Jay feathers.

I will not soon forget the Swifts living in the chimney and this one that was down in the fire place.

MacGillivray's Warbler.  One of 3 lifers I got at the Manning house.  The first was Evening Grosbeaks.

Black-Headed Grosbeak - male

A frequent visitor, the Red-Breasted Sapsucker in his favorite tree.

So cute.

Never a shortage of White-Crowned Sparrows.

This little guy and one other W.C. Sparrow had no tail.  It was strange, but he could still fly.  

Crow flight

A petrified tree frog, found in my living room and became a mascot of sorts.

Moth 1

Moth 2

Willow Flycatcher.  Note no eye ring.  My third Manning lifer.

Yikes, run for it!

Great Summer, but now it's time to bring on the Winter birding! :D

Backyard Birds Misc...

Since last week I've only seen two new species at my "inside-out log cabin" in the country:

• Yellow Warblers - males
• Western Tanagers - male and female

BUT... I've still got all the regular visitors... ;D

Sittin' pretty...

Pine Siskin

White-Crowned Sparrow

Pine Siskin 

Purple Finch

Purple Finch

Eurasian Collared Dove

Female Evening Grosbeak

Male Evening Grosbeak.  To right, Female Black-Headed Grosbeak.

Western Tanager - male

A-flutterin', flappin' and a-flyin'...
 

Purple Finch - male

Black-Headed Grosbeak - male

Evening Grosbeak - male

Black-Headed Grosbeak and Pine Siskins

Black-Headed Grosbeak - female

American Goldfinch - male

Pine Siskins

Eurasian Collared Dove

Black-Headed Grosbeak - male

This list goes on...

I can't help but to post again about the birds I've been seeing at my new place in Manning.  Just as I was thinking I've seen all that I'll see there, more new things show up!

• Brown Creeper
• American Kestrel
• American Crows
• Anna's Hummingbird - female
• Evening Grosbeaks* - male and female
• Red-Breasted Nuthatch
• Turkey Vultures - 10 overhead! The most I've ever seen at once.
• Great Blue Heron
• Eurasian Collared Doves - I don't know how plausible that is, but I'm pretty sure of it, and I think we see them more often than we realize and quickly categorize them as Mourning Doves and move on.  I know Doves aren't the most interesting bird to study, but it's something to think about next time you're birding. :)
• Purple Finches
• American Goldfinches
• Owl pellets - last sunday afternoon
• Great Horned Owl! - Sunday night
• Black-Headed Grosbeak - male + several male and female Evening Grosbeaks
• Mallards - pair flying by
• Chipping Sparrow

*Lifer! First lifer at my new residence. 

Lots of Golden-Crowned Sparrows in the yard and at the feeder.  When I saw the Chipping Sparrow yesterday, it was surrounded by  G.C. Sparrows and looked so tiny in comparison. 

American Goldfinch.  I think they're so funny looking when their black cap is more of a mask.  Hee hee <3

American Goldfinch.  I think they're so funny looking when their black cap is more of a mask.  Hee hee <3

American Kestrel 

Evening Grosbeaks - female and male

Yikes!  Here we have a Mourning Dove's egg (or possibly Eurasian Collared Dove) that I believe was the victim of a brutal murder.  (By the way, this happened right before I found out about Eurasian Collared Doves, and they have now fled the area.)

European Starling AKA the murderers.  The doves and starlings were fighting over a tree, and, sadly the starlings won.

On a lighter note, Yay, an American Robin!

Worst picture ever... supposed to be a male Purple Finch... all crappy, like an attempt to prove Bigfoot exists.... ha!

Worst picture ever... supposed to be a male Purple Finch... all crappy, like an attempt to prove Bigfoot exists.... ha!

Owl pellet, possibly from a Great Horned Owl.  See the yellow buck teeth of a mouse?

Evening Grosbeaks came back.

Male Black-Headed Grosbeak

Robin's egg (not murdered by starlings)