Friday, July 3, 2009

What are they blogging about this week?

In the right hand column of this blog is a gadget that is entitled "My Blog List." It includes what I think are the best blogs that complement the Pacific NW Backyard Birder. They are consistently informative, well-written, and tend to have exceptional photographs.

For instance...
John Rakestraw takes us to Finley NWR at Corvallis, Oregon, where he shows us Savannah Sparrow, Northern Harrier, and elk, along with a view of the prairie.

Lee was in the Dosewallips river of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington where he photographed Harlequin Ducks and many other items for the Lee Rentz Photography Weblog.

Dave wrote about the early June Woodpecker Wonderland festival held at Camp Sherman, Oregon, in the BirdFellow blog.

Though Rich lives in Arizona, his bird photography tips are excellent. This week it is way too hot for bird photography, so he presents the unique pattern in the bark of a palm tree on Rich Ditch's Photography Blog.

I thought I would give a brief overview of what other Pacific Northwest nature bloggers are writing about this week, too. I know of the following dozen such blogs. If you have a Pacific NW nature blog (especially bird-related) or know of another, please let me know so that I can include them in a future similar list.

This, then, is a surprise blog carnival. The authors didn't know they were going to be on display! To get started, here is a sampling of recent writings....

Mike Patterson, over at North Coast Diaries writes about Devil's Club.

Connor, writing in his nom de plume as "North West Birds" in the Beaverton Bird Blog spotted two new year birds, Cedar Waxwing and Green Heron and presents a photo of the waxwing, but a "stand-in" photo of Great Blue Heron had to do, as he just couldn't get a photo of the Green Heron!

The Northwest Nature Nut presents a few of her recent photos from the Portland Rose Garden and the Pittock Mansion.

Max visited Haystack Rock at Pacific City, Oregon recently and photographed a mole crab for his Apartment Biology blog.

Entomologist JP wrote in May at Pacific Slope Blog of her writing retreat to Shotpouch Creek west of Corvallis, Oregon, and the interesting plants and animals she found there.

Though her blog is entitled Laura Goes Birding, this week she went canoeing on the Willamette River at Portland.

Floyd photographed a "blond" Red-tailed Hawk in Yamhill County, Oregon and writes about it in The Flycatcher.

Seth and Michelle on Portland Oregon Backyard Birds went to the Oregon coast and saw and photographed a lot of good birds, including thousands of Brown Pelicans.

John, at the Born Again Bird Watcher, shows us a few camera and optics products from the "Wild Birds Unlimited Vendor Mart 2009" in Seattle.

Andy took advantage of the recent very low tides to do some "tidepooling" on the Andy Frank blog.

Over in Idaho, Charles blogs about an American Kestrel on the University of Idaho campus in BirdaPalousa.

Finally, Fiona in Seattle, the self-titled Nature Geek NW, found a Pied-billed Grebe nest with chicks.