Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve is just at the east border of the Forest Grove Christmas Bird Count circle. As such, it is a major area for birds during this early winter count. This year the count day was Saturday, December 26. The Preserve provided some birds that helped in smashing the previous high count of 114 species, with a whopping 122 species!
The birds seen the previous weeks are still pretty much here, including the WHITE-THROATED SPARROW at the feeder and the RED-SHOULDERED HAWK (though both were inexplicably missed on count day). The CBC team counting on the Preserve recorded a BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON--a really good find. One or two have been present the past couple winters way back in a pond that is actually on Hillsboro landfill property.
Missed on count day, the out-of-season TREE SWALLOW that spent 4 days on the Preserve last week was gone. The ponds all froze on Friday with the nice sunny weather.
A dark PEALE'S PEREGRINE FALCON showed up the day after the count and was seen twice during the week.
A new hummingbird feeder attracted an ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD.
Frosty, but sunny, weather gave way to a snow storm on Tuesday the 29th. The Preserve received 3-1/2 inches of snow in 4 hours after lunch time.
Here is this week's list of birds with numbers recorded on December 26 for the Forest Grove CBC:
Cackling Goose 327
Canada Goose 102
(Canada/Cackling sp.) 900
Gadwall 4
American Wigeon 6
Mallard 143
Northern Shoveler 133
Northern Pintail 1302
Green-winged Teal 56
Canvasback 1
Ring-necked Duck 4
Lesser Scaup 9
Bufflehead 4
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser 2
Ruddy Duck 104
Ring-necked Pheasant 1
Pied-billed Grebe 4
Double-crested Cormorant 6
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret 3
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Bald Eagle 2
Northern Harrier 4
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk 8
American Kestrel 2
Peregrine Falcon
American Coot 4
Killdeer
Dunlin
Wilson's Snipe 1
Mew Gull 1
Ring-billed Gull 1
Glaucous-winged Gull 7
Eurasian Collared-Dove 4
Mourning Dove 9
Anna's Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-breasted Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 5
Northern Shrike 1
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay 11
American Crow 5
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee 10
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 1
Bewick's Wren 1
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
American Robin 32
European Starling
Spotted Towhee 3
Fox Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 20
White-throated Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow 18
Dark-eyed Junco 50
(Slate-colored Junco) 1
Red-winged Blackbird 19
House Finch 7
Lesser Goldfinch 22
American Goldfinch 6
House Sparrow 40
