Ridgefield - drive loop

As almost always, once two or more people in a group get a lifer, there's no stopping them.  So we visited Ridgefield on the way back, thankful to be able to sit and bird at that point.  :) 

Red-Breasted Sapsucker

Albino Nutria.... very strange.

Song Sparrow

Coyote 

A beautiful sight to round off the day.

My beloved Great Horned Owl. :)

Black Phoebe 

Golden-Crowned Kinglet

The infamous Pied-Billed Grebe.

A wave good bye from our friend, the Red-Winged Blackbird.

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 - 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

The Goal: 60 Species in 2 Days

Day one
Tualatin River Wildlife Refuge 
5.18.12
My cousin and I

• Killdeer(s)
• Great Blue Heron
• Barn Swallows
• Canada Geese + goslings 
• White-Crowned Sparrow
• Belted Kingfisher - male
• Northern Flicker
• Red-Winged Blackbirds
• Mallards
• Bald Eagles
• Gadwalls - males
• Violet-Green Swallows
• American Crows
• Brewer's Blackbird - male
• Vaux's Swifts
• Song Sparrows
• Common Yellowthroat
• Red-Tailed Hawk
• Bank Swallows
• Cedar Waxwings
• Western Scrub-Jay
• Chestnut-Backed Chickadee
• Brown-Headed Cowbird - male
• Tree Swallow
• American Goldfinches
• Ringed-Necked Ducks - males
• American Coot
• Cliff Swallow
• Savannah Sparrows
• Purple Finches
• Orange-Crowned Warbler
• Western Wood-Peewee*
• Red-Breasted Sapsuckers
• Black-Headed Grosbeaks
• European Starlings
• Bushtit
• Lazuli Buntings* - both sexes!
• Spotted Towhee
• American Kestrel

*Lifers!!

We certainly mopped the floor at TRWR, it was awesome!

Then, later that day, at my house and randomly:

• House Sparrows
• Rock Doves
• Pine Siskins
• Turkey Vultures
• Yellow Warbler
• Black-Capped Chickadee
• Oregon Juncos
• Mourning Dove
• Rufous Hummingbird - female
• Steller's Jay

The total species for the day:

50!

The always GREAT Blue Heron

Bald Eagles making quite the raucous. 

Red-Breasted Sapsucker flailing about comically. 

Lazuli Bunting - male

Lazuli Bunting - female