Backyard Birds - Manning

Quite possibly the last Manning update before we move again.

Red-Breasted Sapsucker in his favorite tree.

Crazy downpours.

Check. 

Me.

Out.
A little ham of a White-Crowned Sparrow, loving every minute of getting his picture taken! :)

Cute American Goldfinch couple.

Northern Harrier - probably attacked by crows.  There's a lot of squabbles between the crows and raptors. 

Red-Tailed Hawk

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

Ocean Shores, WA

Boy what a trip...  It took a bit longer than we expected, but the delays made us miss the down pours but not the birds! =D

• American Robins
• Western Gulls
• Surf Scoters
• Red-Breasted Mergansers
• Buffleheads
• Common Loon
• Snowy Owls* - it seemed to know we had a rough day and decided to come to us instead of making us find it :)
• Bald Eagle - and juvenile
• White-Winged Scoters 
• Sanderlings - it was crazy bc the first time we saw them it was a fairly large group and this time it was a single one (at first) then a bit later it was a group of thousands!
• Black Turnstones*
• Common Goldeneye
• Greater Scaups
• Western Sandpipers*
• Horned Grebes
• Northern Harrier
• Western Grebes

*Lifers!

Snowy Owl - female or juvenile?

Black Turnstones

Snowy Owl - not positive if this is the same one or not... it seems like this one has a bit of a widow's peak.

Sanderlings

the Sanderlings took off in waves

thousands of them

Sauvie's Island

Yesterday I went out to search for the Harris's Sparrow down Rentenaar Road that has been seen by everyone but me and a man I met there who was on his fourth return to try to see it.  Although I didn't see it, I saw a lot of other birds and even....a lifer - gasp!

• Oregon Juncos
• Double-Crested Cormorants
• Red-Tailed Hawks
• Western Scrub-Jays
• American Robins
• American Wigeons
• Mallards
• Bald Eagles
• Golden-Crowned Sparrows - soooo many....
• Tundra Swans
• Mourning Doves
• European Starlings
• Great Blue Herons - including rookery
• American Crows
• Sandhill Cranes
• Snow Geese
• American Coots
• Northern Shovelers
• Ring-Necked Ducks - males
• Bufflehead - female
• Canada Geese
• House Sparrow
• Song Sparrows
• Northern Flickers
• White-Crowned Sparrows
• Great Egret
• Common Mergansers - males and females
• Spotted Towhees
• Black-Capped Chickadees
• Red-Winged Blackbirds - calls
• Northern Harrier
• White-Throated Sparrow*
• Green-Winged Teals
• Canvas Back
• Cackling Geese
• Dusky Canada Geese
• Western Meadowlarks

*Lifer!

Bald Eagle - take off

Mourning Dove

Bald Eagle - juvenile

playing around

Golden-Crowned Sparrow

Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve

The original plan was to go to Furnhill, but the morning news reported that overnight two motorists got stranded in the flood waters and had to be rescued.  We found out the whole area flooded over and the roads had been closed since Friday.  Luckily, Jackson Bottom wasn't too flooded. 

• Pine Siskins* - male and female
• Oregon Juncos - male and female
• Black-Capped Chickadees
• Mourning Doves
• Golden-Crowned Sparrows
• American Coots
• Bald Eagles
• Gadwall - male
• Northern Shovelers
• Ruddy Ducks
• Belted Kingfisher - male (I don't think I've ever even seen a male, it's almost always the female out and about)
• American Crows
• Red-Breasted Nuthatch
• Green-Winged Teal - male
• Northern Pintails - males
• Pie-Billed Grebe
• Great Blue Heron
• Mallards
• Norther Harrier - female
• Spotted Towhee
• Anna's Hummingbird - male
• Canada Geese
• Bufflehead - male

+Chipmunk

*Lifer!

Kingfisher Marsh
(No one is getting over there anytime soon!)

Lots of flooding

Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge

• American Wigeons - male and female
• American Coots
• Northern Pintails - male and female
• Ring-Necked Ducks
• Red-Winged Blackbird - call
• Buffleheads - male and female
• Great Blue Herons (one with a bullfrog hanging out of it's mouth!)
• Northern Shovelers
• Hooded Mergansers - male and female
• Mallards - male and female
• Cackling Geese 
• Canada Geese
• Golden-Crowned Sparrows
• Red-Tailed Hawks
• Tundra Swans
• Bald Eagles
• Song Sparrows
• Northern Harriers
• Black-Capped Chickadees
• Ruddy Ducks
• Gadwalls
• White-Breasted Nuthatch
• Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
• American Robin
• Pie-Billed Grebes
• Spotted Towhees
• Marsh Wren
• American Bittern
• Double-Crested Cormorant 

+Nutria

+Raccons

+Coyote

The extremely elusive American Bittern

Young Great Blue Heron

Bald Eagles - drying wings

Tundra Swans

Pouncing coyote!  No kill this time, but , man what a sight...

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

Sauvie's Island

This was a ground breaking birding trip for me.  We saw a wide variety of species, several of which I have yet to see since then.  I was into it enough the first trip to buy a bird identification book.  Smithsonian Handbooks Birds of North America Western Region By Fred J. Alsop III.  Not your typical field guide, but I highly recommend it, particularly for beginners.  We bumped into another birder with a scope who said he saw a Golden Eagle up ahead.  My cousin said that can't be.  Well we saw it and took down every detail of it.  During the debrief we explored our books to figure out for sure if this was indeed a Golden Eagle.  It came down to, among several key factors, a detail I found in my book about the flight pattern.  Something clicked with me right then that this is something I liked.

• Bald Eagles, including juveniles
• Sandhill Cranes*
• Ring-Necked Ducks*
• Lesser Scaups*    
• Golden Eagle*
• Northern Harrier*
• Red-Tailed Hawk
• Ring-Necked Pheasant* - male 
• Bufflehead
• Great Blue Heron
• American Coots*
• Mallards*
• Northern Shovelers*
• Spotted Sandpipers*
• Pileated Woodpeckers - male and female

*Lifers

Ring-Necked Pheasant (Digiscope photos)

Golden Eagle

Pileated Woodpecker