Pics from the last few weeks

Here we go again, being bad bloggers. We haven't posted much this last month, except for a couple of new arrivals to the yard. We have been quite busy with our community organization We've Got Time to Help, that we don't post enough. So, here are some photos from our travels around Portland over the last few weeks and, as always, we hope you enjoy them!


A Killdeer behind Michelle's office in Beaverton.


A female Lesser Goldfinch eating some thistle.


A male American Goldfinch waiting his turn for some thistle.


A pair of Gadwalls at Oaks Bottom this past weekend.

A Bald Eagle surveying Lake Oswego.

A Bald Eagle at Oaks Bottom.

Another angle of the Oaks Bottom Eagle.

A Chestnut-Backed Chickadee gathering some nesting material.

Another photo of him (or her) getting some fluff.

One of our resident Golden-Crowned Sparrows.

A pair of Evening Grosbeaks in the backyard.

The male Evening Grosbeak in the apple tree.

An Osprey attacking a Bald Eagle at Oaks Bottom on Sunday.

A female Common Merganser scratching her head.

A Greater Yellowlegs in a pond behind Michelle's office in Beaverton.

A Ring-Necked Duck at Oaks Bottom.

A Red-Tailed Hawk above the house.

A male Red-Winged Blackbird at a pond near Vanport Wetlands in North Portland.

A male Wood Duck at Oaks Bottom.

A male Northern-Shafted Flicker in the backyard.

A male House Finch in the backyard.

An Osprey at Oaks Bottom last weekend.

Another Osprey at Camassia Wetlands in West Linn.

A female Anna's Hummingbird.

A Hutton's Vireo gathering nesting material at Camassia.

Another shot of the Hutton's with nesting material.

A Cooper's Hawk nest at Camassia a couple of weeks ago. Paul Sullivan led the walk around the area and we spotted this towards the end of the trail.

An Orange-Crowned Warbler at Camassia.

A rare Purple Finch in the backyard.

FOY Evening Grosbeaks!!

2 Evening Grosbeaks just came into the yard!! This is quite a bit earlier than the last few years. We took a bunch of pictures, but we have an appointment to go to, so here are a couple of the pics and we will post more soon!!

Here is the male Evening Grosbeak...


...and here is the female on the same apple tree branch!

First of Year Chipping Sparrow!

Just a few minutes ago, we had a Chipping Sparrow come into the yard! It's the first time this year that we have seen this little guy. We usually see him once or twice a year for a single day, then he's gone again. He let us get pretty close this year. Thanks little guy!

What a treat!

Well, on our last post, Michelle and I were treated to a rare sight for us, an Anna's and Rufous Hummingbird on the same feeder. We have seen dozens of photos of multiple Hummingbirds at a single feeder, but it just doesn't happen in our yard.

Then, just one day after the Anna's and Rufous, we were treated again, but this time, it was 2 male Rufous Hummingbirds! It was amazing to watch them. The was some aggression but not enough to make either one fly away. This encounter lasted about 2 minutes and we took about 100 photos. It was awesome!

Here are those photos and some of our other visitors. Good birding!


It was so awesome to see these 2 male Rufous at the same feeder!


They were talking turns for most of the time. One would fly up and the other then would fly down.


I'm surprised that any of the photos turned out, as I was shaking as I snapped them!


Yea! I'm singing some show tunes!

A Scrub-Jay grabbing some suet.

A very pretty Pine Siskin.

This little guy just looked picturesque.

One of our resident Song Sparrows is a little suet hog!

This week in photos

We hope everyone had a great week! We were really busy with our community organization, We've Got Time to Help, so we didn't have a chance to post until now.

It has been a busy yard, too. We have been filling up the feeders just about everyday and going through about 8-12 suet cakes a day. We love it, and with the sun coming back for a few days, maybe we will get some Springtime visitors.

Here's wishing everyone good birding and a great weekend! Enjoy that sunshine!


A female Northern Flicker at her favorite feeder.


a female Downy Woodpecker taking some suet.


The brightest American Goldfinch that we have seen this year. He would not sit still or let me get close to get a good photo.


A hungry group of House Finches.


A Junco with a weird shoulder patch.


A Steller's Jay taking some suet.


A Chestnut-Backed Chickadee and a Townsend's Warbler grabbing some tasty suet.


A male Rufous and female Anna's hummingbird!! This was the first time we have ever had 2 species of Hummingbird at the same feeder. It's even rare for the same species to share a feeder in our yard.


It was so cool! It took us a while to realize that this is not the same male Rufous that we have been seeing. This one had different markings and he was not aggressive at all. There is a male Rufous that seems to have "claimed" the yard and he has no compunction about chasing any bird out of it. But this male below, wasn't chasing anyone off and even seemed a little intimidated by the female Anna's. There are a couple of other "oddities" about this specific Rufous at the end of the post.


A female Anna's


A female Rufous


A male Anna's


A male Rufous (look close and you can see his little tongue).


Here are a few photos that we found odd. Notice the green patch on the top of the Rufous' head? We have not seen this before and it's not on the other male(s) that come into our yard.


Also, notice the tail feathers. There seems to be no markings or coloration on it at all. I have looked through dozens of photos of different Rufous Hummingbirds and they all seem to show markings/coloration on the tips of the tail.


Here's a closer look at the tail. Is this normal?