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!

Beaverton Nature Park - Woodpeckers!

10.23.12
I haven't been to the nature park in a long time, and it was so nice to revisit it.  I love living so close to it again!

• Western Scrub-Jays
• Mallards - the males are finally looking like their old selves again, instead of molting and female esq.
• Northern Flicker
• Black-Capped Chickadees
• Downy Woodpecker
• Pileated Woodpecker - yay! I haven't seen one in months and months. Nov. maybe.  I remember it was really cold.
• Steller's Jay
• Red-Breasted Nuthatch
• Gadwall
• Oregon Junco
• Brown Creeper
• Hutton's Vireo
• Black-Throated Gray Warbler

Pileated Woodpecker - pretty sure it's a female.  The red on the male goes all the way to the beak and continues on the side, kind of like a mustache.

Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge

Christmas Bird Count with the Audubon Society of Portland.

• American Crow
• Downy Woodpecker
• Canada Geese
• Mallards - male and female
• Northern Pintails
• Red-Winged Blackbird
• Cackling Geese
• Ring-Necked Ducks
• American Wigeons
• Golden-Crowned Kinglets
• Anna's Hummingbirds
• White-Breasted Nuthatch - call
• Black-Capped Chickadee
• House Finch 
• Oregon Junco - call
• Song Sparrows
• Great Blue Heron
• Cooper's Hawk
• Bufflehead - female
• Wood Ducks - male and female
• Northern Shovelers
• Gadwall
• Green-Winged Teal
• Brown Creeper
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Varied Thrush
• Red-Tailed Hawk
• Northern Flicker
• Common Merganser
• Double-Crested Cormorant
• Belted Kingfisher
• Lesser Goldfinch
• American Goldfinch

Downy Woodpecker

frosty spiderwebs 

Hood River/ Sandy River/ Columbia River Gorge

A very Awesome day long trip, smashing my 'highest number of species in one day' record.

• Canada Geese
• Western Grebe
• Ring-Necked Ducks
• Common Goldeneyes*
• Greater White-Fronted Goose*
• Western Gulls
• Hooded Mergansers
• Bald Eagle
• Pie-Billed Grebe
• Buffleheads
• Great Blue Herons
• Oregon Junco
• Yellow-Rumped Warbler
• Horned Grebe
• Song Sparrow
• American Coot
• Lesser Scaup
• American Crow
• Varied Thrush
• Western Scrub-Jay
• Downy Woodpeckers
• European Starlings
• Spotted Towhee
• Northern Flicker
• Pileated Woodpeckers
• American Wigeon
• Double-Crested Cormorant
• Red-Tailed Hawk
• Common Raven
• Mallards
• Black-Capped Chickadees
• Ruby-Crowned Kinglets
• American Kestrel
• Western Meadowlark*
• Golden-Crowned Sparrow
• Northern Harrier

*Lifers!

Pileated Woodpecker

Western Grebe
(It was so cold that my camera couldn't even focus!)

Mt. Hood

Hood River

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

Tualatin Hills Nature Park

This was almost like a "dry run" of my first birding trip.  It was basically a walk through the park, with my cousin pointing out a couple birds.


Here's what we saw:

• Pileated Woodpecker *
• Red-Tailed Hawk *

*Lifer