The week in photos

Hello to all. We have been very bad bloggers as of late. We haven't been posting nearly as much as we should. We have both been working quite a bit lately so we haven't posted much. Hopefully, we will start posting more often now. Anyway, here are some photos of birdies over the last week. Hope you enjoy.


The Yellow-Shafted Flicker came back today. She was going to quite a few of the suet feeders but I couldn't catch her in flight. Her yellow feathers are beautiful!


Here's another photo of her. The red on her neck is really bright.


Here's a photo of one of our hybrids. Notice the red on the neck but also the red mustache.

And here's one of just a plain, old Red-Shafted Flicker. Still gorgeous!

Robins, Robins everywhere!

The Pine Siskins are still coming in droves.

A male House Finch. So beautiful.

Another male house finch. We typically have 15-20 in the yard at any given time. They really brighten up the yard.

One of a male Orange Variant House Finch.

Squirrels doing what squirrels do best.

A Slate-Colored Junco. We usually have one or two in the yard along with the 40 or 50 Oregon Juncos.

Finches, Finches and more Finches.

Almost all of the American Goldfinches have their summer colors back now. A few are still a little drab, but they will be bright yellow soon!

We can't get very close to them yet. They are still pretty skittish. They'll learn.

There was probably 50 Americans in the yard this morning with around 30 Lessers.

Murder of Crows

As I was letting the dogs out last Thursday night about 11:15 I heard a huge raucous overhead. I looked up stupidly trying to see anything. Duh. It was dark. By sound it had to be at least 200 crows all making noise as they flew over. I have never heard any crows that late and certainly never that many. Is this a harbinger of something yet to come?? Of course not, but I have read too many horror books (one of my faves) and seen way too many B movies (another one of my faves) so it kind of gave me chills and started my vivid imagination running. Has anyone else experienced large quantities of crows late into the evening? If so, we would love to hear your experiences.
As Seth says enjoy and good birding!
Michelle

Yard photos

Here's a few birds from around the yard over the last couple of days. This week we had not only the first Rufous Hummingbird so far this year (camera no where near, of course), but we also had a Yellow-Shafted Northern Flicker in the yard this morning! We haven't seen either of these guys in quite some time. We definitely got some Flicker Hybrids last year but this one seemed different. I saw definite yellow feathers when it spread it's wings and tail. Exciting stuff! Hope every one's week has gone well and good birding!


A female Yellow-Shafted Flicker


Another shot of her.

About 2 weeks ago, a friends of ours alerted us to the fact that he had a hummingbird nest in a tree in his backyard. When went over a few days ago to climb up on the roof and get some photos, the nest was gone. After a short look around we found it laying on the deck. No evidence of eggs that we could find. Very sad.

Their nests are so tiny and so much softer than you would imagine. They make them out of spiderwebs, lichen etc. so that the nest will grow with the babies after they hatch. How awesome are those little birds.

Americans, Lessers and Pine Siskins all hanging out.

White-Crowned Sparrow and a Junco catching some lunch.

I just like taking pics of Juncos.

The past week

Hello all. It's been another tremendously busy week. We are finally done remodeling the living room. Thank goodness! We haven't had a lot of time to go birding (or even watch the backyard) but we did make it up to Tualatin Hills Nature Park on Sunday for a few hours. Hoping against all hope that we might see a Pileated Woodpecker. We are fairly certain that we heard one, but he flew off before we could get there. ARG! Maybe next time. Still, it is a beautiful park.

So here are some photos of that trip as well as a few from the backyard. We wish you all good birding and a Happy St. Patrick's Day.

First, Tualatin Hills...

This was definitely the highlight of the day! Two deer standing about 15 feet away from us. They posed for a couple of pictures and then we left them alone.

Spotted Towhees everywhere. Gotta love those red eyes.

Lots of Downy Woodpeckers, too.

This is about as close to a Brown Creeper as we have ever been.

Male Red-Winged Blackbird

Female Red-Winged Blackbird

Now the backyard...

More of the color changing American Goldfinches.

The Northern Flicker is still getting the nest box ready. He spends quite a bit of time there now. He seems to be defending it well against the Starlings.


The Pine Siskins and Juncos seemed to have increased their numbers quite a bit. We thought that they were slowly dispersing, but they have come back with a vengeance and we are none too sad about it!

Trip to Oaks Bottom and the Backyard

Here are some photos of the last week. I'm sorry that we haven't posted more but it has been such a hectic week. We are remodeling the living room, we went to Cirque De Soleil and went birding. Whew! So here are some photos and I'm sorry for so many. We hope you enjoy and good birding!


2 Am. Robins bathing in the backyard

Another Robin found something tasty after the rain!

American Wigeon at Oaks Bottom

Eurasian Wigeon at Oaks Bottom

American Coot at Oaks Bottom

Finally got a decent photo of the Golden-Crowned Kinglet!

Green-Winged Teal. Such beautiful birds!!

First year Bald Eagle at Oaks Bottom!!

Here's another shot of the Bald Eagle

I truly believe that this snake was going to bite me if I came any closer.

Spotted Towhees were all over Oaks Bottom. We probably saw at least 20 of them

A beehive just off the pedestrian only path at Oaks Bottom. They weren't very happy with having their picture taken.

Red-Winged Blackbird at Oaks Bottom.

Male Anna's Hummingbird

Turkey Vulture!! It was just off the bike path at about Mile Post 3 on the Springwater Corridor. Life List Bird!!! WooHooooo!

Here's another shot of the Turkey Vulture!

A Lesser Goldfinch at his regular feeder. He loves that pink feeder!

The American Goldfinches are getting their breeding colors!!

Do Canada Geese nest in trees?

A Male Northern Flicker is excavating a nest box we put up for him filled with wood shavings. It took a month or so before he found it. We are really hoping for some flicker broods!

This American Robin made the mistake of landing on top of the nest box as the Flicker was excavating. The Flicker put his head back, spread his wings and made an extremely high-pitched sound that scared the Robing into another time zone!