Broughton Beach

11.27.12

After already going to Broughton Beach a previous day and getting the sought after birds, my cousin was kind enough to take me back there with him, to get said birds.  So nice of him! 

Red-Tailed Hawk

Western Meadowlark - the only one, a pleasant surprise. 

After so many Scaup, the Common Goldeneyes stood out to us like crazy! (Pictured about center)

This American Kestrel was hoovering quite close to us.

A fraction of the hundreds and hundreds of Scaup out on the river that day.

 After 4 hours of scoping the distance birds, and walking the beach (I'd say at least 2 miles), we finally saw the Tufted Duck* among the ridiculous amount of Greater and Lesser Scaup.  By then I was so excited to see it, I forgot to try to take a picture of it!!!  I'm sure it would've sucked anyway, it was so far away.

Probably the same Red-Tailed Hawk from before.

A nice view of Mt. Hood.

We also saw:

• Double-Crested Cormorant
• American Pipits*
• Great Blue Heron
• Red-Breasted Merganser - female
• Horned Grebe
• Ring-Necked Duck

*Lifers!!!

Finley Wildlife Refuge

This is my second trip to Finley, I love this place, it has everything.  Bodies of water, fields, lots of different kinds of trees, interpretive center (only open on weekends though), driving loops, walking loops AND a barn with an owl in it!  Of course, I didn't see it.  You have to be an owl person to see owls very often and I'm just not an owl person.  I don't even know what it is that makes an owl person. 

Pretty scenery 

A huge swarm of Red-Winged Blackbirds and European Starlings get scared off by a raptor (to left).

They switched directions...

and headed right toward us.  It was pretty surreal.

A Lewis's Woodpecker. A lifer for me!

Northern Flicker.  There were tons of them, I don't think I've ever seen so many in one day.

Red-Tailed Hawk

Here owl, owl, owl....

More pretty scenery 

A board walk through the woods.

White-Breasted Nuthatch

Wondering what I'm doing.

Acorn Woodpecker

Really weird; acorns stored in the holes of the tree.

Lots of Acorn Woodpeckers! (3 here)

At one point we ended up back on a road and saw this in someone's yard.  Heeheehee so weird!

Western Meadowlark

American Kestrel 

Long-Billed Dowitchers

Black Phoebe 

Marsh Wren to left, Savannah Sparrow on right

I just love these, I wanted to take some with me..

Red-Tailed Hawks

One more stalk of the barn, as the sun was going down.  No owls.

An American Kestrel showed up instead.

 Other birds seen:

• Golden and Ruby-Crowned Kinglets
• Fox Sparrow
• Northern Harriers
• Turkey Vulture
• Hutton's Vireo 
• Pied-Billed Grebes
• Great Blue Herons
• Red-Breasted Sapsucker
• Steller's Jay
• Killdeer
• Mallards
• American Robins
• Mourning Doves
• American Goldfinch
• Black-Capped Chickadees
• Western Scrub-Jay
• Spotted Towhee
• Oregon Junco

Fern Ridge / Meadowlark Prairie / Finley Refuge

An awesome trip through and through, although the weather couldn't have been more bi-polar.  I always imagine Spring birding to be this very wonderful, picture-esq event.  In reality, Winter birding is much more tolerable.  We experienced frigid temperatures, down pours, sunshine, hail, strange dark/bright skies; all at once at times.  We even saw a fair share of "sucker holes", this is what my cousin calls it when the sky looks stormy and there is one chunk of clear, sunny skies, trying to trick you into thinking nice weather is coming.  Not the case at all.  Despite the weather, the birding was quite excellent. 


Furn Ridge

• Turkey Vultures - my first of the season!
• American Kestrels
• Acorn Woodpecker*
• Northern Flickers
• Red-Winged Blackbird
• Canada Geese
• Tree Swallows
• Violet-Green Swallows
• Yellow-Rumped Warbler
• Song Sparrows
• Mallards
• American Coots
• Marsh Wren
• Ringed-Necked Ducks
• Golden-Crowned Sparrow
• American White Pelicans*
• Canvasback - male
• Pied-Billed Grebe
• Bufflehead - male
• Great Blue Heron
• Cackling Geese
• Savannah Sparrow 

*Lifers!

American White Pelicans

Crazy skies

Meadowlark Prairie 

• Green-Winged Teals
• Cinnamon Teal
• Northern Shovelers
• Northern Pintails
• Western Bluebirds
• Northern Harriers
• Great Blue Heron

Finley Refuge

• American Robins
• Northern Flickers
• Tree Swallows
• Violet-Green Swallows
• Great Blue Heron
• Northern Harriers - male and females
• Yellow-Rumped Warbler - male
• Western Meadowlarks
• Common Yellowthroat - male
• Spotted Towhee
• Golden-Crowned Sparrows
• Green-Winged Teals
• Mallards
• Red-Winged Blackbird - male
• Ring-Necked Ducks
• Osprey - my first of the season!
• Cinnamon Teals
• Song Sparrow
• Black-Capped Chickadee
• Turkey Vultures
• Belted Kingfisher
• Bewick's Wren
• Greater Yellowlegs
• American Wigeons
• European Starlings
• Sanderlings
• Savannah Sparrows
• Red-Tailed Hawks

Western Meadowlark - male

Common Yellowthroat - male

Osprey

One last drench followed by large hail as we head back to the car.

Commonwealth / Furnhill / Jackson Bottom

A birding marathon extravaganza, if you will, a birding trip many months in the making, sprinting to and fro location after location and collecting lots of birds (and memories!) along the way.  :D


We started at East Commonwealth Lake Park Trail, South Beaverton in the Long Name Division neighborhood. Hahaha!!! JK, but why such a loooong name?  We didn't walk the circle, but we still got the gist.

• House Finch - male
• Red-Tailed Hawk
• American Wigeons
• Mallards
• Song Sparrows
• Bufflehead - male
• House Sparrow - male
• Anna's Hummingbird - call
• American Coot
• Western Scrub-Jay
• Black-Capped Chickadee - call (too bad I only know a few easy calls... need to work on that)
• American Robins
• Western Gulls

Next was Furnhill Wetlands, which was supposed to be the bell of the ball, but instead it was flooded into an unrecognizable blob.  I just hope the water goes down soon and Elvira can come back and see what it's really like.  As for her out of town, visiting folks... well hopefully she can send them pictures of what it was supposed to look like. ;)  What was really cool though, Sue knew all the back roads and we were able to do a convoy tour of the other side of the wetlands.

• Brewer's Blackbirds
• American Coots
• Mourning Doves
• American Robins
• Northern Flickers
• Song Sparrows
• Red-Tailed Hawks
• Downy Woodpecker - male
• European Starlings
• Canada Geese
• Red-Winged Blackbird - call - I seemed to miss it when others finally spotted it.  I may have been talking to a random lady who I thought was part of our group. Ha!
• Anna's Hummingbird
• Tree Swallows
• Western Meadowlarks - at one point of of them landed on a power line, it looked so big and strange up there.
• American Kestrel
• Bushtits - always so much prettier than I expect.  The photo in my Smithsonian book has to be the drabbest Bushtit ever and it's imprinted on my brain. 
• Brown-Headed Cowbird - boo ya!  Just me and my cousin got that one.

As you can see, the water level was WELL past the half way point in the road.

Last stop, Jackson Bottom

• Killdeers - in the parking lot, of course! 
• Lesser Goldfinch - first of the season
• Anna's Hummingbird
• Black-Capped Chickadees
• Chestnut-Backed Chickadees
• Pine Siskins
• Oregon Juncos
• Red-Breasted Nuthatch
• Downy Woodpecker - male
• Golden-Crowned Sparrow
• Spotted Towhee
• Canada Geese
• American Coots
• Tree Swallows
• Red-Winged Blackbird
• American Robins
• Western Scrub-Jay - it's funny how there will be times where you wont see a single robin or scrub-jay the whole day... 

Downy Boy

Somehow it's even more flooded than before!

Does this look familiar?

We wrapped up the day with dinner at Chennai Masala - the best Indian restaurant ever!!!

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