Sauvie Island - Part two

All the Sparrows got us excited to see more, so it was off to explore the island.

Lots of pairs of American Robins. Love them.

Tundra Swans

Spotted Towhee.  Very curious of Jeff.

Neat little nest.

Golden-Crowned Sparrow

This one came right up to me. :D

While looking at a Chipping Sparrow and wondering where the Harris's Sparrow might be, I turned to my right, to see him looking right at me, closer than ever!  

Harris's Sparrow - Notice quite different than the Harris's in the last post - I think this one is an older juvenile, or maybe an adult.

Female Red-Winged Blackbird

Sandhill Cranes

White-Crowned Sparrow

A fun sequence of a Golden-Crowned Sparrow picking at the Pussy Willow Tree.

Sauvie Island - Part one - More than one Harris's Sparrow

The day started out at my Grandparents-in-law, a happy birthday visit to Grandpa.  Turns out, the birding there cannot be beat.  

This is their back yard.

Oregon Junco and White-Crowned Sparrow

Male Anna's Hummingbird

Female Red-Winged Blackbirds (the first ones I've seen this year!) and Golden-Crowned Sparrow.

Harris's Sparrow

The small, whitish ball toward the middle is him.

He was also seen getting seed from these feeders.

Harris's Sparrow with Red-Winged Blackbirds

The seed that attracted this Harris's Sparrow.

Harris's Sparrow

Sauvie Island

Back to Sauvie Island to get my cousin the Harris's Sparrow and try to trick my best friend into becoming a birder... It didn't take, but we all had fun anyway. :)

Classic Song Sparrow.

Spotted Towhee

Snow Geese.  Creative control goes to my buddy, his request, for pointing them out. Ha!

Golden-Crowned Sparrow

I think this one is has animatronic eyelids...

Fox Sparrow

And...
Redhead - A Lifer! 

Sauvie Island

1.19.13

First birding of 2013!  I know, so late..  Last year I started the morning of Jan. 1st.
Well my first for the year did not disappoint.  Jeff and I went, hoping to see a White-Throated Sparrow, which he hadn't seen before, and maybe some other sparrows, such as the Harris's Sparrow.

First we stopped at Jeff's grandparent's house (who happen to live on Sauvie Island).  While we were visiting, I was ASTONISHED  to see a Harris's Sparrow among all the Golden-Crowned and White-Crowned Sparrows, feeding on the seed they laid out on a stump.

Every time I hear about the Harris's Sparrow on Sauvie Island, it seems like people are referring to just one.  Last year when I went to look for the Harris's a few times, I ended up with two photos of it on two different days.  I was certain it was two different ones.  
See for yourself.

Of course, we saw another Harris's Sparrow on Rentenaar Rd., proving once and for all (if not to others, at least to me :)) that there is multiple Harris's.  I'm starting to think maybe they are scattered around the island.  Jeff's Grandparent's house is about 12.6 miles away from Rentenaar Rd.  Anyway, these kinds of things interest me... :)

My oh my, it was a foggy day!  It only got worse as the day went on.

Several Northern Pintails, lots of Mallards and a Northern Shoveler or two. Gadwalls and American Wigeons not pictured (probably).

Of course, we have the iconic Red-Tailed Hawk perched in precarious branch.

Freezing fog = iced plants

Northern Harrier flies away.

Snow Goose.  The only one we saw.  Usually you'd see thousands of them, but it was way too foggy for that.  This dingy goose was a renegade from the flock.

I love this photo, even though the Song Sparrow is so out of focus.  He looks so sneaky! :)  Or is that another Lincoln's Sparrow?  It really is a sneak!

And there he goes.

I love Ruby-Crowned Kinglets!  I've never gotten a photo where you can even tell what it is, so for me, this is big. :)

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet.  AND you can see the crown!  Barely, but it's there!  Also, I like the middle photo, capturing it's usual quick movements that make it nearly invisible in all my photos.

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet (male)

Lincoln's Sparrow*

 *Lifer!  First lifer of the year ~ the Lincoln's Sparrow.

Singing Lincoln's Sparrow.

Ok, so here we are, half way down Rentenaar Rd. where the group of Sparrows eat sprinkled seed.

White-Throated Sparrow

1. White-Throated Sparrows 2.White-Crowned Sparrow 3.Song Sparrow

1.White-Throated Sparrow 2.Golden-Crowned Sparrow

1.White-Throated Sparrow 2.Golden-Crowned Sparrow

Birds not pictured or mentioned:

• Black-Capped Chickadees
• Oregon Juncos
• Anna's Hummingbirds
• Sandhill Crane - another bird that you would normally see tons of, but since it was so foggy, we heard many, but only saw a single one fly by at one point.
• Canada Geese
• Bewick's Wren
• American Crows
• Red-Winged Blackbirds - only by audio
• Double-Crested Cormorants
• American Robin
• Cackling Geese
• Orange-Crowned Warbler
• Western Scrub-Jays
• Belted Kingfisher - positioned in such a way that I couldn't see if it was male or female.
• American Coots - despite all the hunters on this foggy morn. 
• American Kestrels
• Killdeer
• American Bittern!  - Right next to the road, within 5 feet of it, by accident we flushed it out.  Both the Bittern and I were surprised.  Jeff slightly less.
• Spotted Towhees
• Fox Sparrows
• Northern Flickers
• European Starlings - boo
• Great Blue Heron - by audio only - it was pissed about something!

Commonwealth Lake Park

11.26.12
My grandma was in town and Commonwealth Park was the perfect place to spend time together, along with my dad, and see lots of cool birds. :D

The start of Commonwealth Lake Park

American Wigeon

American Coot (Cracks me up to see them out of the water!)

Cackling Geese

A Golden-Crowned Sparrow trying to blend into the rocks, it seems.

Common Merganser - female

Lots and lots of American Wigeons! Female left, male right.

Odd domesticated goose of sorts.

Greater White-Fronted Geese

Great Blue Heron coming in for the landing.

I thought this was cute.  I assume it's another domesticated duck (Commonwealth has several that are always there) buddied up with a Mallard.  Such a sweet, unlikely couple! 

Great Egret

When I first saw this grey-ish and white little bird, I almost panicked.  I didn't recognize it at all...

Then I saw the bit of yellow near the armpit (scientific term ;) and rump.  Female Yellow-Rumped Warbler, but what still got me was the total lack of yellow on the throat, which lead me to cross reference with whatbird.com and I concluded it must be a Myrtle's Yellow-Rumped Warbler.

Other birds we saw:

• Red-Tailed Hawks
• House Sparrows
• Buffleheads
• Double-Crested Cormorants
• Pied-Billed Grebe
• Hooded Mergansers
• Gadwalls
• Northern Flicker
• Bushtits
• Western Scrub-Jay
• House Finches - including an orange variant!  I've never seen that before!
• American Goldfinches