Sandy River Delta

Michelle and I went out to the Sandy River Delta this morning and spent about 6 hours there. It was our first time to bird this area and what a trip it was! We saw four Life List birds and 46 species total! It was a great time and we hope you enjoy the photos.

Lewis's Woodpecker! The sky was a drab gray, so we had to lighten the photo for you to be able to see any detail. Not a good photo, but you can definitely see what it is!


Another of the Lewis's.


One more just because we were so excited to see it! A Life List bird for us!


Bullock's Oriole! They were everywhere. Every path we took we ran into more Orioles. It was great! Another Life List bird.

A Yellow-Breasted Chat! This was another wonderful Life Lister for us!

Singing away just off one of the many paths.

A Green Heron trying to hide.

Then he decided to come out for a little photo op.

A Hermit Thrush let us get pretty close.

A gorgeous Yellow-Rumped Warbler.

A few pics from the yard

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.

Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge

Today, Michelle and I decided to go birding somewhere new. We have been all over the place, but we have never made it to Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge. The rain was coming down and the wind was howling, and that was before we even left the house. I don't know what possessed us to go out into the yucky weather, but we are sure glad we did! 54 identified species today! (Species list at bottom of post)

Not only was the weather perfect, but we saw 2 new Life List birds! The rain was coming down in sheets as we drove out to TRNWR and we were expecting it to be a pretty miserable day, weather wise. By the time we arrived at TRNWR, the sun was out and it was fairly warm. The wind blew all day but not so much that it wasn't enjoyable.

Then, after we left the refuge, we stopped at Vanport Wetlands. We were just in time to see a Bald Eagle hunting the area for some dinner. We saw quite a few types of waterfowl, too.

Then, on the way home, we took Marine Drive. There were quite a few waterfowl along the river and a lot of raptors on the land side, one of the raptors was a juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk (pics below). Overall, it was a great day birding and a great day spent together!

Hope you enjoy the photos!


Here is the sign in the main entrance to Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge.


Here is just one of the countless gorgeous views at the refuge.


After searching the lower area, we hiked up to the Ridgetop Overlook. On the way back down the trail, we both spotted this Great Horned Owl coming in for a landing!


He was gorgeous. This was a Life List bird for us.

He sat there for about 5 minutes and then took off for parts unknown. But, not before we got about 40 photos of him.

A Western Bluebird. We saw quite a few of them on the trail just behind the Refuge Headquarters. Another Life List bird.

Another Western Bluebird.

And one more Bluebird for good measure.

On the way home, we took Marine Drive and found a ton of raptors. This juvenile (notice all the white) let us get so close. Exciting stuff!

One of the 4 bald Eagles we saw today. This guy has just a hint of color on the tail, so we assume that he is about as close to a full adult as possible.

One of the many groups of waterfowl we saw today. This group of Northern Pintails was at Vanport Wetlands.

The 54 species that we positively identified today:

Canada Goose

Cackling Goose

American Wigeon

Eurasian Wigeon

Mallard

Green-Winged Teal

Northern Shoveler

Northern Pintail

Greater Scaup

Bufflehead

Ruddy Duck

Cormorant

Blue Heron

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Red-Tailed Hawk

Kestrel

Coot

Killdeer

Mew Gull

Herring Gull

Thayer's Gull

Rock Dove

Great-Horned Owl

Anna's Hummingbird

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Steller's Jay

Scrub-Jay

Crow

Tree Swallow

Black-Capped Chickadee

Chestnut-Backed Chickadee

Bushtit

Red-Breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Bewick's Wren

Western Bluebird

Robin

Starling

Yellow-Rumped Warbler (both Audubon's and Myrtle)

Townsend's Warbler

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

White-Crowned Sparrow

Golden-Crowned Sparrow

Junco

Red-Winged Blackbird

Brewer's Blackbird

House Finch

Pine Siskin

Lesser Goldfinch

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow

Birds from the yard and around town...

It's been another busy week in the yard. We have been going through a ton of seed and suet lately (more so than usual). The Juncos, Siskins, Towhee and Varied Thrush are still hanging around, which is pretty late for this yard. Normally they are gone by now, but we will relish their continued presence! The Townsend's and Yellow-Rumped Warblers are still hanging around in good numbers, too.

No new spring visitors yet. We are keeping an even more watchful eye out though, as we are certain that we have heard a much-too-early Black-Headed Grosbeak singing lately. I have tried in vain to find him a few times, but alas, nada.

We have been seeing the Red-Tailed Hawk again over the house. She has been flying right over our home and very low. We assume it's a female because she is so large. From a distance she looks she has the wingspan of an Osprey. She's huge!


I found this Ruby-Crowned Kinglet in a small tree just singing away. I have never heard one singing so loud or so much. It was great fun to listen to.


A Townsend's Warbler and a Bushtit sharing a bit of suet.


Another Bushtit. This one is a male (females have light colored eyes).


At a local pond the other day, I found a Great Blue Heron fishing along the shore line. What a sight to see! He had to jab the water a few times before he was successful, though.


All the way down! Maybe going for a frog?


I combed over this photo to try and tell what he had caught, but no luck. He shook the ever loving crud out of it, though.

More Beaverton Birding

Here are some more photos of Beaverton birds! Most of these were taken at Commonwealth Lake. Click here for more info on the Park. We hope you enjoy the photos.

Red-Winged Blackbirds were everywhere! Singing their songs and choosing nesting areas. I easily counted over 300 of them.


They were very willing to pose for some photos, too.


An American Wigeon. There were about 300 of this species as well.


Beaverton has lots o' Towhees! Such great looking birds.


You just gotta love the Song Sparrows.


This is about as close as I've ever been to a Red-Tailed Hawk. He was sitting in a tree about 20ft above my head.


There were at least 4 of the Red-Tailed over the park all day long.


This guy was sitting as little higher than 20ft, but I still had to take the photo.


A pair of Red-Tailed Hawks just cruising along the thermals.


A Cooper's decided that the Red-Tailed can't have all the fun.


This Downy Woodpecker was such a ham! He let me get within about 3ft to take his photo.


There was one lone Pied-Billed Grebe at the pond.


If you look closely, you can see a female Red-Winged Blackbird on the right, a Scrub-Jay in the middle and a Robin on the left.


This was a brave little Fox Sparrow. He just hopped around the leaves as I walked around and took photos.

What birds are these?

We have a ton of other photos that we will post tomorrow of birds that we have identified.


But, we need your help with these IDs. Here are the strange photos from today.

Leucistic Canada Goose? This goose was in a flock of 50+ Canada Goose. Traffic wouldn't allow us to stop in the middle of the road for too long!! Darn non birders.


What kind of Sparrow is this?











Hybrid Wigeon?