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

Smith and Bybee

Somehow, this is only the 3rd time I've been here.  It's a great place though.  The recent botulism outbreak is still having an effect on the birds though.  There were gun shots in the distance every once in awhile, to scare off the birds and we saw a dead Dowitcher and a few dead Mallards.

Despite the botulism outbreak, parts of S&B are looking clearer than ever.

Layers of Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons and way in the back; American White Pelicans.

The best part of the day was on the way back to the parking lot, this Pileated Woodpecker (male) was so close!

With out a doubt, the best look I've ever gotten of a Pileated Woodpecker!

Scappoose Dike

• Red-Winged Blackbirds
• Canada Geese
• Mallards
• Gadwalls
• Northern Pintail
• Song Sparrows
• American Robins 
• Great Egret 
• Great Blue Herons
• Double-Crested Cormorants - including juveniles
• House Finches
• American Coots
• Northern Harrier
• Green-Winged Teals

Scappoose Dike

• Western Scrub-Jays
• Red-Winged Blackbird
• American Wigeons 
• Mallards
• Great Blue Herons
• Green-Winged Teals
• Black-Capped Chickadees
• Cinnamon Teals - my mom caught these before me (good eye!) then we had to wait for them to come back so I could see them!
• Bushtits
• Canada Geese
• American Robins
• Great Egrets - a field of 19 of them!
• Red-Tailed Hawks
• Belted Kingfisher - male
• American Kestrels

Sauvie's Island

On the way to visit family, stopped off at the Sauvie's Island bird blind to count birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count for 25 minutes.

• Double-Crested Cormorants - 5
• Western Scrub-Jays - 3
• Red-Tailed Hawk 
• American Crows - A murder (probably 20)
• American Kestrel
• Red-Winged Blackbird - call
• European Starling (I don't know how it's possible, but I only saw the single one.  So weird!)
• Mallards - 300
• American Coots - 5
• Great Blue Heron
• Canada Geese - 25
• Snow Geese - 300
• Sandhill Cranes - 7
• Oregon Junco
• Bald Eagle
• Great Egret

Snow Geese

Beaverton Creek

• Anna's Hummingbird
• House Sparrow - male
• Mourning Dove
• Red-Winged Blackbirds
• Bufflehead - female
• Oregon Junco
• Mallards
• Song Sparrow
• American Robins
• Great Egret
• Gadwalls
• Hooded Merganser - male
• American Coot
• Northern Shoveler
• Green-Winged Teal - male
• Black-Capped Chickadee - call

heehee Mallard butt...

Beaverton Creek

02.05

• Red-Winged Blackbirds - males
• Buffleheads - males and females
• Mallards - males and females
• Northern Shovelers - males and females
• Ring-Necked Duck - male
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Oregon Juncos
• Song Sparrow
• Red-Tailed Hawk

This Great Egret came out of nowhere!

Red-Winged Blackbird - male

Red-Tailed Hawk

02.09 & 02.10

• Oregon Juncos 
• Anna's Hummingbird - male
• Hooded Mergansers - male and female
• Mallards
• Green-Winged Teal - male
• Northern Shoveler - male
• Buffleheads
• Ringed-Necked Ducks - females
• Great Blue Herons
• Red-Winged Blackbird - call
• Great Egret
• Northern Flicker
• Gadwalls
• American Robin
• Canada Geese

Northern Flicker - female

Song Sparrow

Whitaker Ponds Nature Park

Once again, one birding trip in a day is not enough, especially if one of us gets a lifer in the first one.  Gotta keep that momentum going! 

• American Crows
• Bald Eagle
• Oregon Juncos
• Great Egrets 
• Canada Geese
• Song Sparrows
• Belted Kingfisher - female
• European Starlings
• American Wigeons
• Mallards
• Ring-Necked Ducks - males and females
• Green-Winged Teals - male and female
• Eurasian Wigeon* - male
• Great Blue Herons
• Gadwalls - males and females
• Hooded Mergansers - male and female
• Downy Woodpeckers - male and female
• American Robins
• Black-Capped Chickadees
• Anna's Hummingbirds - call
• Western Scrub-Jay
• House Finches
• Pine Siskins
• Yellow-Rumped Warblers
• Red-Tailed Hawk
• Cinnamon Teals - male and female
• Double-Crested Cormorant

*Lifer!

Great Egret
Never seen at Whitaker Pounds by either of us, and we saw four!

Sharpening it's beak.

Quick, let's get outta here!

Bald Eagle and Great Egret in passing.

It was a strange day at the pond.

Downy Woodpecker - male

Pine Siskin

House Finch pair

Downy Woodpecker - female

American Robin

Siletz Spit/ Canon Beach

An attempt to catch the Snowy Owl at Siletz Spit.  As we were closing in on the location that it has been reportedly spotted about two weeks before and two weeks before that, a local guy came out of his house, seeing us all geared up to ask if we were birding.  He informed us the Snowy Owl left last week.  We were a bit saddened by that, but the trip was well worth it anyway.  


Since it was a long trip, I'm splitting up what we saw as we traveled.  


Highway 26 Westbound:

• Red-Tailed Hawk
• American Crows
• Mourning Dove
• American Kestrel 
• Northern Flicker
• Western Scrub-Jay
• Mallards
• Buffleheads
• Double-Crested Cormorant
• European Starlings

Canon Beach:

My goodness that place was dead, as far as birds are concerned.  Oh.. actually that would be quite literally too.  We saw less than 10 Western Gulls, no birds on Haystack Rock, that is except 2 dead Cormorants :(.  Although, on the other side of the rock were several male and female Black Scoters and near the parking lot, a few House Sparrows.

Black Scoters - males and female

Western Gull.... I'm pretty sure.  Gulls are a bit difficult to I.D. sometimes. 

Along Highway 101 Southbound:

• Bufflehead
• Pied-Billed Grebe
• Horned Grebe
• Red-Winged Black Bird
• Anna's Hummingbird
• Less Scaups - males
• Ring-Necked Ducks
• Common Loon*
• Black-Capped Chickadee
• "Dusky" Canada Geese*
• Common Raven
• Great Egrets
• Great Blue Heron
• American Robin
• Brewer's Blackbirds

Siletz Spit:

• American Crows
• Kingfisher - male
• Golden-Crowned Sparrows
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Buffleheads
• Spotted Towhees
• Northern Pintails
• Anna's Hummingbird
• Song Sparrow
• American Robins
• Golden-Crowned Kinglet
• Yellow-Rumped Warblers
• Bewick's Wren
• Mallards
• Chest-Nut Backed Chickadee
• Northern Flicker
• Gadwalls
• American Coots
• Varied Thrush - male
• Double-Crested Cormorant
• Surf Scoters
• Red-Breasted Mergansers
• Common Loon
• European Starlings
• Common Goldeneyes - males and females
• Barrow's Goldeneyes* - males and females
• Semi-Palmated Plovers

+Rabbits

+Harbor Seal

*Lifers!!

Surf Scoter - juvenile male

Red-Breasted Merganser - male

Semipalmated Plovers

Common Loon

Beaverton Creek Wetlands Park

• Mallards - males and females
• Great Egret
• Red-Tailed Hawk
• Song Sparrow - call
• Red-Winged Blackbird
• Buffleheads - male and female
• Oregon Juncos
• Northern Shovelers - females

Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve

• Black-Capped Chickadees
• Oregon Juncos
• Lesser Goldfinch
• Anna's Hummingbirds
• Northern Shovelers
• American Wigeons
• American Coots
• Mallards
• Gadwalls
• American Kestrel
• House Finches
• Northern Pintail
• Song Sparrow
• Great Blue Heron
• American Robin
• Tundra Swan
• Western Gull
• Northern Flicker
• Red-Tailed Hawk
• European Starlings
• Western Scrub-Jay
• Great Egret 
• Golden-Crowned Sparrow
• Ring-Necked Duck
• Canada Geese

Golden-Crowned Sparrow

Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge

"As cousins, we went birding at Ridgefield the day before Thanksgiving." HAA!
Another great trip to Ridgefield with my bird instructor/cousin. 

• Mallards
• Great Egret
• American Kestrel
• American Coot
• Northern Shoveler
• Western Gull
• Great Blue Heron - juvenile
• American Robins
• European Starlings
• Western Scrub-Jays
• Pied-Billed Grebe
• Northern Flicker
• Cinnamon Teal
• Hooded Merganser - male
• Tundra Swans*
• Northern Harrier
• Bufflehead - female
• Peregrine Falcon*
• Gadwalls
• Bald Eagles - juvenile and adult
• Bewick's Wren
• American Wigeons
• Red-Tailed Hawks
• Northern Pintails
• Sandhill Cranes
• Black-Capped Chickadees
• Red-Winged Blackbirds
• Canada Geese

+Coyote

+Beavers

+Nutria

*Lifers!

Juvenile Great Blue Heron

European Starlings

Sauvie's Island

• American Kestrel
• Canada Geese
• Sandhill Cranes
• Red-Tailed Hawks
• Double-Crested Cormorants
• Snow Geese*
• Great Egret
• Western Gulls
• Western Scrub-Jay
• Song Sparrows
• Northern Flicker
• Bald Eagles
• Northern Harrier
• American Coots
• Mallards
• Cackling Geese
• Red-Winged Blackbird - call
• Great Blue Heron
• Black-Capped Chickadee - call
• Oregon Junco
• Eurpean Starlings
• Lesser Goldfinch
• Northern Pintail
• Northern Shoveler
• Ring-Necked Duck
• Buffleheads - female

*Lifer!

"A flock of geese leave their lake and take wing, turning to poems in the sky."  

~Dr. SunWolf

Canada Geese and Snow Geese flee from a raptor