Monday, May 25, 2009

Evening Grosbeaks!

Our yard has been inundated by Evening Grosbeaks the last 10 days or so. At first, we saw 2, then 4 and now we are seeing them by the dozens! 40, 50, 60+ all day long. They are on the feeders and in the trees and on the ground and still we can hear others calling from a block or two away. Tons of Evening Grosbeaks. This is the most we have ever hosted by far. Last year, we had a whopping total of 2 stop by the yard for a day. Very fun stuff!


A male Evening Grosbeak getting a drink.


A portion of the Grosbeaks that hang out here all day long.

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Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Fern Ridge and Koll Wetland photos

Michelle and I went to Koll Wetlands a couple of weeks ago and then to Fern Ridge Wildlife Area about a week ago. She took me to Fern Ridge for one of my birthday presents! We had an awesome time and on the Fern Ridge trip we added 6 new Life List birds!! It was phenomenal birding and we can't wait to go again!

We haven't had a chance to post until now. So, without further ado, here are the photos from our trips and a few miscellaneous pics.

Common Yellowthroats were everywhere at Fern Ridge. 100's of them all over the place.


We have never seen so many at one time. Flying right in front of us and over our heads!


A female Wood Duck at Koll Wetlands.


A female Wood Duck with little babies in tow! How cute is that?



A Violet-Green Swallow at Koll.


One of the many turtles at Fern Ridge. This one was kind enough to pose before slipping back into the water.


Black-Necked Stilts at Fern Ridge. A Life List bird! They were gorgeous.

Another Stilt.


And yet another Stilt.


An Osprey nest (with an Osprey in it) overlooking a farm at Fern Ridge.

A Spotted Sandpiper behind Michelle's office building in Beaverton.


Red-Tailed Hawks were all over Koll Wetland area. Flying pretty low, too.


Such beautiful, majestic birds.


Here was another Red-Tailed Hawk at Koll. I don't know if he had some food he was protecting or if he was just sunning himself.


The Crows thought that keeping an eye on the Hawk might be a good thing.


A Purple Martin at Fern Ridge. Another Life List bird!


A Pine Siskin bathing in our backyard.


American White Pelicans at Fern Ridge. They are awe inspiring birds.


There was probably 30 Pelicans there. The Pelicans with the large bump on their bill are breeding males. The are such large birds, especially, up close


An Osprey fishing at Fern Ridge.


A Canada Goose family behind Michelle's office. Notice the adult on the right? It has a white forehead. Strange.


A Marsh Wren letting the world know that he's available! Like the Common Yellowthroat, the Marsh Wrens were everywhere. 100's and 100's of them!


We just liked this photo because it contains White Pelicans, Coots, a Blue Heron, a Bald Eagle, a Canada Goose and a Galdwall. Can you find them all?


A male Red-Winged Blackbird doin' his thang!


On our way out of the Fisher Butte unit, at the corner of Royal Ave and Fisher Rd, we found this nesting Western Kingbird.


Not exactly the best photos, but it was still really cool to find!


3 Killdeer making a lot of noise at Koll.


This Killdeer let me get quite a bit closer.


At Koll Wetlands, we found a Blue Heron colony right off the road. Here is one of the Herons in the nest.


This one shows (kind of) a juvenile Blue Heron in the nest and another nest above it. Sort of hard to see the baby, but it's there!


Here are 5 of the nests. There were 8 that we could find in the tree.


A Greater-White Fronted Goose at Fern Ridge.


A big Canada Goose family behind Michelle's office.


This little Gosling at Koll looks like he's injured. He's not. I actually watched him walk over to this spot, lie down and and then stretch itself out. He seemed to be enjoying the sunshine!


Here's another one, stretching after getting up.


A pair of Gadwall at Koll.


A female Red-Winged Blackbird blending into her surroundings.


A trio of Cinnamon Teals in flight at Fern Ridge. There were Cinnamon Teals everywhere you looked.


A Chipping Sparrow at Fern Ridge Lake.


A couple of Canada Geese under a bridge in Downtown Portland.

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Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Lazuli Bunting!

We just had a new yard bird/Life List bird come into the yard a few minutes ago...a Lazuli Bunting!!

I have to scramble out of here to get to an appointment but we will post more photos tonight. This was so exciting!!





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Sunday, May 3, 2009

Is this a Hammond's Flycatcher

This was flitting around a pear tree in our yard last night. We are having trouble identifying it. We believe that it is a Hammond's Flycatcher. Any thoughts?


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