Portland Oregon Backyard Birds

Band-Tailed Pigeons

2009-12-29T12:34:00.000-08:00

We just had a flock of 9 Band-tailed Pigeons fly into the yard. We haven't seen them for quite sometime. Usually they are gone by now and return in late February.

One of the nine in the tree.

I could get 4 in this photo. They were all over the tree, though.

I believe there are 6 pigeons in this photo. It was a great treat to see them so late (early?).

A few pics from the yard

2009-12-02T07:26:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pics in the yard from the last couple of days. The yard has been getting busier and busier over the last couple of weeks. Lots of Juncos, American Goldfinches, Lesser Goldfinches, House Finches, Black-Capped and Chestnut-Backed Chickadees, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Yellow-Rumped and Townsend's Warblers, Flickers, Downy Woodpeckers, a Red-Breasted Sapsucker, Scrub and Steller's Jays, Bewick's Wrens, Song, White- and Golden-Crowned Sparrows, Spotted Towhee, Bushtits, Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, Cedar Waxwings, and Anna's Hummingbirds are all common visitors right now. We have heard the Varied Thrush a couple of times, but we haven't spotted him yet.

Wishing everyone a great birding winter season!

We have tried in vain to ID this gull. We think we ID the gull and then we notice a marking that rejects our theory. Any ideas?

A Sharp-Shinned Hawk. Both the Sharpie and the Cooper's hawks are starting to visit the yard more and more.

A Bewick's Wren searching for some good bugs behind the house. Such a great looking bird.

Flora and Fauna Nature Company

2009-11-24T08:48:00.000-08:00

Well, the good people at the Flora and Fauna Nature Company have started stocking their shelves with our suet! We are very excited and we look forward to growing a small business.

Our suet is (we think) the highest-quality suet on the market. Our Everyday Blend has rendered fat, peanut butter, black oil sunflower seeds (whole), sunflower chips, filberts, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, peanuts, cashews, nyjer seed, oats, cracked corn, crushed oyster shells, millet and flour. Every cake is stuffed full of seed and nuts. We have tested it against many other suet cakes and it is far and away better than any other we have found. The Flora and Fauna Nature Company is selling it right now for $3.99 a cake or 3 cakes for $9.99.

Bushtits

The suet in our yard has been enjoyed by Bushtits, Black-Capped and Chestnut-Backed Chickadees, many types of Woodpeckers, many types of Warblers, White-Breasted and Red-Breasted Nuthatches, Wrens, Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, Juncos, quite a few species of Sparrow, Scrub and Steller's Jays, and Black-Headed Grosbeaks.

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

We have shipped suet to many parts of the country and has been popular with birds everywhere.

An odd looking American Goldfinch

We don't know if this was just left over from his summer colors or a permanent marking. But it looked cool!

So please give our suet a try and let us know how it's working in your yard. Take care and good birding!

A few photos

2009-11-09T07:57:00.001-08:00

Here are a few photos of some regular residents in our yard. Hope you enjoy them!

An Oregon Junco deciding which sunflower seed looks the best. We are getting about 20-25 juncos a day now. In winter, we usually have around a 100 or so in the yard at any given time.

One of the many Flickers we get in the yard.

We had 5 in the yard at the same time yesterday. Last winter, we had nine at once! Yes, we go through lots o' suet.

A Black-Capped Chickadee that was nice enough to pose for a couple of photos.

They usually don't hold still long enough for me to get the shot.

Commonwelath Park and the yard

2009-10-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

Today, Michelle and I went out to Commonwealth Park in Beaverton. It was just supposed to be a quick stop, but we ended up being there for quite a while.

Among the variety of birds, were a juvenile Green Heron (who let us get really close) and a Horned Grebe!

So here are some photos from the trip and a few others from the yard.
Good birding to all.

Here is the gorgeous juvenile Green Heron! He has been one of the most elusive birds for us. We catch quick glimpses, but we have never been able to stare at him.

Here he is staring right back at us!

Such a cool looking bird!

Please don't ask how many photos we actually took of this little guy.

Photo 9,215...

Showing off a bit for the camera.

I can't tell you how excited we were to finally find this bird!

A Horned Grebe. We've never found one at Commonwealth Lake before.

A Green-Winged Teal.

A beautiful American Wigeon.

An odd looking American Wigeon among some Mallards.

Here is the odd looking Wigeon out in the lake.

A female Wood Duck.

Some Steller's Jays filling up in the backyard.

A female Purple Finch.

A (blurry) Red-Breasted Sapsucker on the telephone pole in the backyard (yes really, in the backyard).

A first of season Yellow-Rumped Warbler (Audubon's).

More photos from the yard

2009-09-13T05:37:00.001-07:00

Here are a few photos from the last week or so. The Band-Tailed Pigeons are still hanging around. The most we counted at one time was 7! It was awesome to see so many at once.

The American Goldfinches are slowly starting to return, but they have lost most of their summer colors and are now the more muted yellows. They will winter with us by the hundreds.

Of note, this last week we saw, not only the Common Nighthawk (see post below this one) but a Pacific-Slope Flycatcher also stopped by! That's only the second Flycatcher we have ever had in the yard.

So, without further adieu, here are a few pics...

We have really enjoyed playing host to these Band-tailed Pigeons.

They are great fun to have around.

They are usually resting atop this telephone pole/wire in the mornings. This pole, strangely enough, is actually in our backyard. Here you can see 5 of them.

Here are four of them in one of our homemade fly-thrus.

One of the more colorful American Goldfinches stopping in for a quick drink. Once they get their bright yellow summer colors we usually don't see them again until the start of fall when their colors are a little more drab.

A female Bushtit. They are coming in the yard 20 or 30 times a day now.

A Lesser Goldfinch snacking on a sunflower leaf.

The Lessers decimate our sunflowers leaves during the summer. They seem to enjoy the leaves as much as they do nyjer seed.

A very friendly House Finch taking a sip.

Common Nighthawk!

2009-09-09T17:20:00.000-07:00

We just had a Common Nighthawk circling above the house! This is a life list bird for us and we certainly never expected to see one here. Here are a couple of (really) bad photos we just took.

A long time coming...

2009-08-23T15:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to everyone and thanks for being so patient with us. We took a little blogging hiatus for the last few weeks, but we are back and ready to start blogging like crazy.

Here is a collection of photos from the last month or so, and please forgive us, they are not in any real order.

We hope you enjoy the photos and we will be posting more later this week. Take care and good birding!

An Osprey flying right over us at Ridgefield NWR.

A Flicker defending his suet from a Starling.

A juvenile Flicker camping out on a feeder. She wasn't quite sure how to hang on the side.

This photo is of a Cooper's Hawk in our yard. He flew in, and because of the shade, only his eye was really visible. It stood out like a bright, red berry.

We have had a pair of Band-Tailed Pigeons hanging out in the yard over the last couple of weeks!

They seem pretty friendly. They are a little jumpy, but if we sit still, they will hang out for a while.

One of them grabbing a drink.

A juvenile Steller's Jay learning to get 3 peanuts into his throat, just like he's seen the adults do.

A fledgling House Sparrow. Too young to fly, it just sat in this tree in our backyard while the male pitched a fit about us being too close.

A young Pied-Billed Grebe at Ridgefield NWR.

Some fledgling Cedar Waxwings at Salish Ponds.

These were taken a few weeks ago.

The might have been the cutest things ever!

While in the backyard a week or so ago, we were lucky enough to get a couple of photos of a very young Spotted Towhee!

The Black-Headed Grosbeaks have been hanging out in the yard the last few weeks.

Another Black-Headed Grosbeak stopping in for some dinner.

This Black-Headed Grosbeak was snacking on some berries.

We have had quite a bit of Hummingbird activity the last couple of weeks. At least five different birds, both Anna's and Rufous have been enjoying the bird bath. Here is a Rufous taking a bath.

They are such cute little creatures it is hard not to take dozens of photos each time!!

This Anna's Hummingbird has an unusual white spot on the top of it's head.

Another shot of the Anna's Hummingbird with the white patch on it's head.

An Anna's Hummingbird defending it's perch against a Rufous Hummingbird.

A quite moment at the feeder for the Rufous Hummingbird.

We have been loving all the different Juvenile birds coming to the yard lately. This Scrub Jay has learned where to find peanuts!!

He still hasn't quite mastered shelling peanuts yet. He kept dropping them through the bench and having to get another one.

The Red-Breasted Nuthatch with a black oil sunflower in our Mountain Ash tree.

All of the remaining photos were taken at Ridgefield NWR.

This juvenile Black-Crowned Night Heron posed quite nicely for us right off the the auto route trail!!

What a sight!!

He watched us watching him holding very still.

A rare site for us this time of year. A Blue-Winged Teal at Ridgefield NWR.

The Blue-Winged Teal being followed by some Juvenile Coots.

A Belted Kingfisher sat quietly for a time allowing for some great shots!!

A female Common Yellowthroat.

A Mourning Dove enjoying the day.

An Olive-Sided Flycatcher at Ridgefield NWR.

Another Flycatcher at Ridgefield. This one is a Willow.

As we were leaving Ridgefield NWR we saw a large flock of unidentified birds. Any clue to what they could be??

A closeup of the same flock.

Some waterfowl off in the distance. Any clue what they might be?

This Red-Tailed Hawk was chasing dinner on the ground.

We couldn't tell what dinner was supposed to be but the Red-Tailed Hawk was determined to catch it!

A week in the yard

2009-07-11T22:37:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics from our yard in the last 10 days or so. Hope you enjoy them and we hope everyone is having a wonderful Summer!

This is one of the resident Anna's Hummingbirds that we are lucky enough to host in the yard. She is pretty tame and sits for lots of photos.

We caught her doing this the other day and we have since seen it multiple times. She just sits there, and every once in a while, she would open her bill, and then snap it shut. Could she be flycatching? It wasn't hot, so I don't think she was panting. Any ideas?

Here she is doing it again. We have tried to find some info on it, but nothing so far has described what she's doing.

Such a gorgeous bird!

Here is a female Rufous Hummingbird. She flew to this feeder as I was standing next to it, photographing a Downy Woodpecker.

Here's the Downy on it's favorite suet feeder.

He also lets me get pretty close. Such cool looking birds.

Such a cute little face!

As I was photographing the Downy (above), this Cooper's swooped into the yard. The only bird to not get out of the yard was the Downy I was taking pics of. He stayed on the suet feeder, frozen stiff. Poor guy.

I backed away from the Downy so as not to scare him out of the tree and into the hawk's view. As I backed away, the Cooper's flew into the tree I was under and about 5 feet from the Downy. If you look close, you can see the Downy of the right side and in the middle is the Cooper's tail. Fortunately, the hawk flew off and the Downy lived to see another day.

2 of the many newly-fledged Scrub-Jays coming into the yard. Notice the all gray heads.

Another one of the fledglings. Very cute and fluffy.

Here is a newly-fledged Robin. There are young ones all over the yard. Jays, Robins, Sparrows, Chickadees, Cowbirds, Cooper's Hawks. It's a great time to be bird watching!

A Black-Capped Chickadee grabbing a snack.

Here are 8 abandoned (we think) Chickadee eggs. The nest box is on the side of the house and we watched them build it for weeks. Then, they just stopped coming to it. So we took it down, thinking we would just find an empty nest and this is what we found! So the box went immediately back up, but we still haven't seen the Chickadee pair going to it. Why would they abandon an entire nest?

Oregon Coast Trip

2009-06-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

Michelle and I went to the coast for a few days for her birthday. We stayed in Cannon Beach with Haystack Rock just outside of our room. It was an incredible trip and we nabbed quite a few new Life List birds.

We were lucky enough to have some of the lowest tides of the year during our stay. The tide was so low, that we could walk behind Haystack Rock.

The trip was capped off with an amazing sight. We stopped at Fort Stevens, parking lot C, and were treated to 10,000+ Brown Pelicans and 1000's more Brandt's Cormorants. It was phenomenal!! I wish the pictures we took could convey what we saw. It was the most incredible sight. Huge flocks of Pelicans flying in and out and 1000's just sitting on the beach.

We hope you enjoy these photos and, hopefully, we won't wait so long in between postings. Take care and good birding!

A Greater Yellowlegs at the north end of the Necanicum Estuary

We found this Turkey Vulture in the woods here, partaking in some squirrel dinner. It was odd to see the Vulture in the forest.

See the hole? Now look to the right and you can see a Chestnut-Backed Chickadee getting ready to fly into it with some food in its' bill.

On the south side of Necanicum Bay, there were tons of Wilson's Warblers chasing each other through the woods.

We tried to ID this guy we found at Seaside Cove but we couldn't come up with an answer. Any ideas?

We found a couple hundred Brown Pelicans at Seaside Cove. It was awesome.

This is a photo of tons of Heerman's Gulls at Seaside Cove. There are a few other gulls thrown in, but the majority is the Heerman's. Life List for us!

A Pelican eating a fish. See it in his pouch?

The gull in the center is the Heerman's.

Pelicans everywhere!

Hundreds more Pelicans at Ecola State Park. There are also Cormorants, Murres, and Gillemots, too.

More of the same!

And still more!

We have never been so close to harlequin Ducks before. We found these at the base of Haystack Rock. They are such incredible looking birds!

2 Western Gulls with Starfish in their mouths! The extremely low tide made prime dining for the gulls.

A nesting Western Gull on Haystack Rock.

A shot of Haystack Rock with Pelicans flying along the sea.

See all the birds in the air? This is what happens when a Bald Eagle swoops in on the Rock.

Here goes the Eagle after successfully nabbing a Common Murre. He few right over our heads with it in his talons.

A Western Gull and one of the millions of Starfish in the rocks in Cannon Beach.

Two more Bald Eagles sitting behind Haystack Rock.

Nesting Tufted Puffins!! They are such cool birds!

3 more Puffins. Their colors were so striking.

During a small rain storm, the rocks in Cannon Beach looked gorgeous. There are 2 Bald Eagles sitting atop the rock in the back.

Haystack Rock without any water surrounding it. It was a very odd sight, but a great birding opportunity.

This Common Murre was kind enough to land close to us.

Nesting pelagic Cormorants. We saw 100's of nests all along the coastline.

A Western Gull and a Black Oystercatcher. Great looking birds!

Another Oystercatcher. It's amazing, with those bright red eyes and bill, how hard the are to see sometimes.

In Tillamook, there is a place called the Blue Heron Cheese Company. It's a great shop and we always stop in when we are in town (try their smokey garlic mustard!). This time, as we were walking in, we spotted this nest just above the front door.

As we got closer, we realized that it was a nesting Barn Swallow. She didn't care at all about the people walking in and out of the store. She just sat there, presumably on eggs.

Inside this circle is 3 juvenile Peregrine Falcons! This is at Cape Meares. The volunteers had a couple of scopes set up for people to look through. It was a great sight and one that we won't soon forget.

More nesting Pelagic Cormorants at Cape Meares.

This photo is of lots of Marbled Murrelets and 1000's of Common Murres. We couldn't fit all the birds into a single photo. We tried many times with no luck.

A singing White-Crowned Sparrow. The sparrows were all up and down the coastline.

A bunny at Cape Meares.

Just off of the parking lot at Cape Meares, we were treated to a couple of newly fledged Chestnut-Backed Chickadees! Notice the yellow still on the bill. This little one couldn't have been out of the nest for too long.

3 Black Oystercatchers in Depot Bay.

A Harbor Seal looking for fish in Depot Bay's harbor.

A Whimbrel in Newport. We only saw a couple of shorebirds on our trip.

An anemone in the tide pools back at Cannon Beach.

One of the smaller rocks behind Haystack Rock. The Pelicans and Cormorants loved to sun themselves here.

A Pelagic Cormorant in fight.

This is a side-view photo of Haystack Rock. Because of the low tides, we got further out and close to Haystack Rock than we ever have been able to before.

In the parking lot of our hotel, Barn Swallows were busy gathering nesting material.

Here is one of the views from the viewing platform from parking lot C in Fort Stevens. The coast was lined with Brown Pelicans. There were thousands more just off the shoreline and 1000's more in the air.

We don't know exactly how many there were, but everyone agreed that there were at least 10,000 Pelicans.

The Pelicans were flying right over our heads on the platform.

They are such amazing creatures. It was breathtaking to see so many at once.

1000's and 1000's of Pelicans.

Like we said earlier, the pictures cannot convey the enormity of the sight.

There were lots of Caspian Terns at Fort Stevens, as well.

A view from our car as hundreds of Pelicans fly past the platform and jetty at parking lot C.

A 3rd yr. Bald Eagle surveying the situation in Astoria. He was waiting for the gulls to get some food and he would then chase them and make them drop it, then he would go retrieve the food and eat it himself. Pretty smart if you ask me.

Evening Grosbeaks!

2009-05-25T17:51:00.000-07:00

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.

Fern Ridge and Koll Wetland photos

2009-05-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

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.

Lazuli Bunting!

2009-05-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

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!!

Is this a Hammond's Flycatcher

2009-05-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

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?

Pics from the last few weeks

2009-04-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

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!!

2009-04-25T15:15:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-04-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-04-07T19:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T19:05:00.000-07:00

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?

Salish Ponds

2009-03-31T15:23:00.000-07:00

This Sunday evening, Michelle and I decided to run up to Salish Ponds in Gresham to see if the Osprey that nest nearby were back for the Summer. No such luck, but Salish Ponds are always nice and it's a great little hike around them. Sometimes, the birding is great, other times, not so much. This time wasn't too bad. We didn't see many songbirds but there was a lot of waterfowl out and about.

Here's how the city describes the ponds "Located between Halsey and Glisan streets at the site of an old rock quarry, the 70-acre Salish Ponds Wetlands Park opened in October 1999 and is Fairview's largest city park.
Visitors can see hawks, geese, ducks, rabbits, coyotes and other wildlife. The Salish Ponds Trail connects to the Reynolds Middle School Campus and the Gresham-Fairview Regional Trail to the west. TriMet bus 77 serves Salish Ponds Wetlands Park. Get off at 207th Avenue and walk south two blocks to the Salish Ponds Trailhead."

You can actually see quite a few more birds than they list, if you go at the right time. Anyway, here are a few photos from our walk. Good birding!

This was a nice surprise, there are still some Ring-Necked (we still think they should be called Ring-Billed, but that's our opinion) Ducks hanging around. Usually, they are gone by late March, early April.

This is a photo of 2 silhouetted Robins. We really like how this one turned out.

There was a lot of Mourning Dove activity at the ponds. Here is just one of the many we saw.

Here is a pair of Mourning Doves in a distant tree.

Canvasbacks are also usually gone by now. Everything seems to be a little off schedule this year. We have our assumptions that it was that nasty winter we had.

A female American Wigeon. There was also a single male swimming around.

I could resist throwing a photo of the female Rufous Hummingbird in the mix. Can you blame me?

Suet for sale

2009-03-16T20:31:00.000-07:00

I don’t know how many of you are familiar with our community organization that we have started. It’s called We’ve Got Time to Help and we would love it if you would take a look at our other blog here: wevegottimetohelp.blogspot.com

Our mission is to help anyone who asks for it, no matter what they need. We don’t offer financial assistance, but we will help in just about any other way we can. We offer assistance with nothing expected in return. We do not accept payment for the services we render. We are out to help others in need for two reasons and two reasons only: To pay it forward and to bring a sense of community back to our neighborhoods.

The reason for this post is to let everyone know that Michelle and I are trying to raise some money for the group’s needs (i.e. supplies such as lumber, roofing material, hardware etc. etc.)
We make this suet from scratch and it has been a huge hit in our yard and many others. The suet cakes are full of seeds, nuts and fruit. We have seen some of the prices in some local stores and are appalled at what they are charging for the same old, same old. Sometimes store bought cakes are sold for as much as $8 a piece and they are not much better than the cheapest cakes on the market.

Our suet cakes sell for $3-$4 per cake with quantity discounts and all of our suet is no-melt. We guarantee our suet and we guarantee that this will be the best suet that you have ever used! Please give us a chance to earn your trust.

Our $3 suet contains: Rendered Beef Fat, Peanut Butter, Oats, Peanuts, Black Oil Sunflower Seed, Sunflower Seed Hearts, Cashews, Filberts, Walnuts, Almonds, Millet, Cornmeal, and Flour.
For just $1 more per cake, you can add just about any fruit of your choice. Blueberries, raisins, craisins and cranberries etc. etc. or you can add hot pepper to keep those pesky squirrels away.

We will accept orders of any size, from 1 cake to 100. For orders of 10 or more, we will give you a 10% discount. For orders of 20 or more, we will give you a 15% discount. For orders over 100 cakes, please contact us for current specials. Because shipping rates are large, we will work with those of you who are out of state.

Please email us at nepobirds@q.com with your orders or questions. Thank you all so much for a your support. This money will be going to a great cause and we will immediately be able to help so many more people. Thank you!

Here is one of our typical suet cakes that we put in our yard. It is our normal suet cake, with all the above ingredients, plus craisins. The birds go nuts over this one.

Here is the same suet cake broken in half, so that you can see that the entire cake is full of seeds and nuts, not just the outside like a lot of other cakes.

Photos from the yard

2009-03-28T09:59:00.000-07:00

It has been getting busier and busier in the yard lately! We have been going through a lot of seed in the last couple of weeks. But, that's a good thing!

Here are some of the photos we have taken this week. We hope you enjoy them all. Good birding to everyone!

The Rufous Hummingbirds are in all day now. We see both the male and female frequently. The one below is the male.

Here is the female Rufous. Such gorgeous little birds!

The Townsend's Warblers are still hanging around, too. We are hoping that they stick around for a while longer.

Here is a Yellow-Rumped Warbler that is getting his breeding colors. All of the Yellow-Rumped that we see now are fluffy and full of color!

One of our resident Song Sparrows. We have a feeling that she has built a nest on the side of our home. We scan the yard daily for juvenile Song Sparrows.

A rare (for us) Band-Tailed Pigeon decided to drop by for a while. We always enjoy their visits.

A male Lesser Goldfinch looking just about as pretty as can be!

A Downy Woodpecker checking out some home-made suet.

The American Goldfinches are really starting to show their breeding colors now! The bird beside him is a Lesser Goldfinch (female) and below him is a Pine Siskin.

New yard photos!

2009-03-22T21:27:00.001-07:00

Here are a few recent photos from our yard. The Rufous Hummingbird still comes around everyday. The Juncos, Pine Siskins, Towhee and Varied Thrush are still hanging around. Pretty late in the year for them to be around, but we'll take them!

Here is a very odd looking Bushtit. Notice how brown his head is and how distinctive the line between his head and body are? Is this normal?

A male Anna's Hummingbird at one of our feeders.

2 male House Finches eating some black-oil Sunflower Seed.

A Yellow-Rumped Warbler through our office window. I wish it was more clear, but the rain and double-pane glass wouldn't afford that.

A Townsend's Warbler feeding on the ground.

One of the many Hawks that come through the yard on a weekly basis. This one is a Sharp-Shinned Hawk.

A Robin getting ready to bathe.

A Robin bathing!

A small flock of Bushtits.

Yard photos

2008-03-21T08:45:00.000-07:00

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.

Orange-Crowned Warbler!

2008-10-29T17:31:00.000-07:00

An Orange-Crowned Warbler (orestera subspecies) came into the yard just about an hour ago, tagging along with a flock of Bushtits! Just in time to be counted for the GOBC!! He must have got the memo! Thanks little guy.