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.

Salish Ponds

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.

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

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

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.