Ridgefield

Michelle and I went on our annual New Year's Day birding trip. This time (as usual) we went to Ridgefield NWR. It was a bone chilling day but skies were mostly clear and there was some great birding going on. We have never seen so many Red-Tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers, Blue Herons, or Bald Eagles all at the same time. They were everywhere.

We also added a bird to our Life List! A Black Phoebe! It's a rare bird for Ridgefield and we felt very lucky to have seen it! Here are some other photos from the trip. We hope you enjoy!

We identified 39 species. Species list is at the end of the post. Great start to the New Year!

One of the many Red-Tailed Hawks we saw during the trip.


Tundra Swans resting on the icy ponds.


The Blue Herons were as thick as fog. We found several of the just standing in the road not seeming to have a care in the world!


They all seemed quite willing to pose for some photos.



We came upon this Heron just as it nailed the ground with fury. He then pulled out a Vole (we think anyway).

He made quick work of the rodent.

A couple of seconds later and down it went!

Here is the Black Phoebe! At first, we thought it was a Slate-Colored Junco, but after watching it for a few minutes through the bins and hearing it's very distinctive call, we determined that it was in fact a Black Phoebe.

5 juvenile Bald Eagles surveying the land for their next meal.

A smattering of Tundra Swans with hundreds and hundreds of Northern Pintail.

Here are 2 photos of an unidentified Hawk. It was slightly larger than a Kestrel. It's wings seemed to be rounded in flight. We only got this one back shot before it took off. We didn't recognize the pattern on the back.

Here is a blown up version. The tip of it's beak seems to be light colored (yellow?). Any ideas?

Species:

Canada Goose

Cackling Goose

Tundra Swan

Wood Duck

Mallard

Shoveler

Pintail

Ring-Necked Duck

Greater Scaup

Bufflehead

Ruddy Duck

Pied-Billed Grebe

Cormorant

Blue Heron

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Red-Tailed Hawk

Kestrel

Coot

Red-Breasted Sapsucker

Downy Woodpecker

Flicker

Black Phoebe

Steller's Jay

Scrub Jay

Crow

Black-Capped Chickadee

White-Breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Marsh Wren

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

Robin

Starling

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

Golden-Crowned Sparrow

House Finch

Lesser Goldfinch

House Sparrow

A long time coming...

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!