Jackson Bottom birds: December 25-31, 2009

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

In the backyard... Anna's Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbird, San Diego County, California, on 31 October 2008 by Greg Gillson.

 

Many backyard birders are beginning to discover that Anna's Hummingbirds are year-round residents west of the Cascades in the Pacific Northwest.

This resident hummingbird was formerly confined to California and northen Baja California. The first Oregon record was in 1944. By the 1960's it was established as a regular breeder, primarily in SW Oregon. The range expansion really took off in the 1980's and birds are now regular (and still increasing) north to southern British Columbia and, rarely, SE Alaska. It has also expanded into Arizona, where it is now common in larger towns.

The causes of the expansion of this hummingbird has not been studied, but is thought to be due to plantings of flowering shrubs. Anna's Hummingbirds are most common in the Pacific NW in larger towns with more winter-flowering landscaping. They have been less common in smaller rural communities, though they are increasing rapidly now into these areas as well.

Male Anna's "sing" all year long, but especially from December to April, the breeding season. The song is a long series of insect-like buzzes and clicks (like a miniature starling!). Nests are built and eggs laid as early as January, though some birds nest as late as April. The nest is the size of a walnut shell half, covered in spider silk and lichens. The eggs are the size of coffee beans and the tiny chicks are hatched naked.

Anna's Hummingbirds are quite large compared to the only common hummingbirds within its range in the Pacific NW. Anna's are all green on the upperparts, including the base of the tail, which is rusty on Rufous and Allen's hummingbirds. Additionally, the sides are green or gray on Anna's, but pink or cinnamon on Rufous and Allen's.

Anna's barely crosses east of the Cascades and is huge compared to the tiny Calliope Hummingbird. In comparison to Black-chinned Hummingbird, the male Anna's has it's whole head and throat amethyst-pink, while the male Black-chinned is mostly (you guessed it) black chinned. The crown of female Black-chinned is gray, while the crown of Anna's is green.

For information on feeding hummingbirds, see a previous article, telling how to make hummingbird nectar.

Jackson Bottom birds: December 19-24, 2009

The weather this week has been primarily 31-34 degrees Fahrenheit and foggy. The sun finally broke through on Thursday afternoon.

The Preserve has had several birders visiting in preparation for this Saturday's Forest Grove Christmas Bird Count. Thus we have 67 species on a short week.

Good birds this week included the continuing RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. A group of CALIFORNIA QUAIL were spotted in the back acreage. The covey that had been present several years was eliminated after someone dumped housecats at the Preserve some time ago (a year or so). The cats are gone now, or maybe one remains, seen only by noting tracks in the mud recently.

A flock of DUNLIN was the first since November. A lone TREE SWALLOW has been hawking insects over the ponds during the last three days of the weekly period. I don't know where it came from. The first birds usually show up the second week of February, but the last birds are usually gone by late September.

A RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER was spotted again this week. Three WESTERN MEADOWLARK were on the Preserve on Thursday.

Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
California Quail
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
American Coot
Dunlin
Glaucous-winged Gull
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Spotted Towhee
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch

At the pond... Northern Pintail

Northern Pintail, Forest Grove, Oregon on 17 January 2004 by Greg Gillson.

 

The Northern Pintail is one of the most abundant migrant ducks in the Pacific Northwest. It is also abundant in winter west of the Cascades. It breeds primarily east of the Cascades. Continentally, they nest across Canada and Alaska and in the Great Basin and Great Plains. They winter coastally and in the southern US and well into Mexico.

The male's long black tail and white stripe up the back of the neck make this bird quite striking. Even without this combination of marks the sharply patterned males and the drab females are graceful, long-necked, ducks. They are distinctively differently shaped from all other North American ducks. In flight they are long-necked with sickle-shaped wings, easily identified even at a great distance.

One of the most frequent calls of the drakes is a wheezy double whistle. The hen gives a flat quack, lower and quieter than a Mallard hen.

Pintails are primarily vegetarian, and are most often found in shallow ponds and flooded pastures rather than deep lakes.

Jackson Bottom birds: December 14-18, 2009

The previous week of subfreezing weather in Hillsboro, Oregon, gave way to rain and highs to 50 degrees F. The Tualatin River began backing up Jackson Slough and filling the wetlands.

Ducks came back to the thawed ponds, with many RING-NECKED DUCKS and LESSER SCAUPS on Pintail Pond.

A RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER was found, a rare visitor that has been seen off and on for 3 weeks now near the Education Center. The male Anna's Hummingbird has not been seen since the freeze, but might still be around the bioswales in front of the Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve Education Center or the Cleanwater Services building next door.

COOPER'S and SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS have been reported regularly. A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK remains from earlier in the fall. A PEREGINE FALCON put in a showing during the week. Bird feeders have been put in and they are attracting many birds now.

Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
California Quail
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
American Coot
Killdeer
California Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Mourning Dove
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch

Jackson Bottom birds: December 7-13, 2009

Last week at Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve in Hillsboro, Oregon we had freezing, but sunny skies. By Thursday all the ponds were completely frozen, and only the middle third of the Tualatin River was open. Small bird activity was reduced, ducks pretty much moved out. The 53 species reported was about 10 less than the previous week.

The THAYER'S GULLS and HERRING GULLS were on the open water in the center of Pintail Pond on Wednesday, just before it froze completely. They come from the landfill across the river. A HERMIT THRUSH was reported from the Madsen Property. This is the first report for the Preserve, though it should be expected in winter along the river or in our conifer groves. A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK remained from earlier in the fall. For the second week in a row WESTERN MEADOWLARKS were found, apparently they will winter here, primarily below the landfill. Two VARIED THRUSHES were reported for the second time this fall/winter.

Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Ring-necked Duck
Hooded Merganser
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Killdeer
Wilson's Snipe
California Gull
Herring Gull
Thayer's Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Varied Thrush
European Starling
Spotted Towhee
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch

In the woods... Northern Pygmy-Owl

Northern Pygmy-Owl, Timber, Oregon on 22 November 2007 by Greg Gillson.

 

When someone mentions "owl" your thoughts may jump to the "Tiger of the Night," the powerful hunter that is the Great Horned Owl.

The Northern Pygmy-Owl is probably not the first bird one associates with the word "owl." After all, at 6 and 3/4 inches in length, this cute little gnome (scientific name is Glaucidium gnoma) is much shorter than a Starling, and weighs about the same. It has a toy-like whistled "toot" call. It is active during the day.

But don't let it fool you. It is a ferocious little predator. It eats insects, mammals, and birds, often up to twice its own size. It tends to sit on a perch (often quite conspicuously in the open) and then drop down on its prey. These small owls, in turn, may be hunted by larger owls--it is not a kind world out there.

The whistled call is easily imitated. This may attract these owls to you in more mature dense woods (as with the bird photographed above). More often, though, a whistled imitation attracts a flock of chickadees, nuthatches, crossbills, tanagers and other forest birds to mob the "owl" and drive it away. On many occasions I have heard a flock of Red Crossbills flying high over the forest and whistled a pygmy-owl imitation and brought them in for a landing near me. Sometimes I get a whistled reply back from my imitation. While it may be a pygmy-owl responding, it may just as likely be a Gray Jay, who does a good job of imitating the Northern Pygmy-Owl.

Pygmy-owls nest in old woodpecker holes, often flicker, Hairy Woodpecker, and sapsucker holes, the woodpeckers typical of the dense forest stands where this owl lives. They are found in conifer forests in Western mountains, from SE Alaska through western Mexico.

Nutria

Nutria, Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve, Hillsboro, Oregon on 11 December 2009 by Greg Gillson.

 

Nutrias were introduced into the Pacific Northwest in the late 1930's for their fur. However, the demand for fur plummeted soon thereafter. These large South American semi-aquatic rodents escaped or were released. They found the climate of the Pacific NW ideal and became a pest in the wetlands.

The Nutria is called the Coypu in Spanish (as "nutria" means otter in Spanish). This rodent reaches 20 pounds in weight and has a body length of 24 inches with a tail length of 18 inches. It has a vegetarian diet. Distinguishing marks include the white face, webbed hind feet, and round bare tail.

It is a chunkier animal with a shorter muzzle than the River Otter, which has fur on the tail. The Muskrat is smaller with a tail flattened vertically. It is quite similar in shape to a Beaver, but separated by the Beaver's horizontally flattened tail.

Nutrias are primarily nocturnal, but come out in the day time when food resources are low (such as the recent week of freezing weather we've had). They have poor eyesight. I encountered nearly 20 of these animals on a short walk around Jackson Bottom Wetlands. They didn't see me until I was within 35 feet of them. They can run fast, but pause and turn to "face the enemy" with their orange incisors, typical of rodents.

Nutrias dig burrows and extensive tunnel systems (up to 150 feet) in river banks causing erosion and destroy irrigation channels. They may also damage wetland habitat by consuming aquatic vegetation. In Oregon that includes willow, marsh purslane, and burr-reed. Nutrias can "eat-out" an area causing the collapse of a natural wetlands structure (See the Report on Nutria Management and Research in the Pacific Northwest).

Prolonged freezing winter temperatures limit the population of Nutria. Most Nutria in the Pacific Northwest are found in the Willamette Valley of western Oregon, and in limited areas west of the Cascades in Washington, as well as locally in SW British Columbia.

Frozen feeders

We've reached five days in a row now where the temperatures west of Portland, Oregon have not reached above freezing. Water pipes are freezing and people are really bundled up. Clouds have rolled in this Saturday morning, and snow and freezing rain are in the forecast as temperatures rise. After today, rain is the forecast every day for a week.

The photo above is from yesterday, Friday. We have a resident Anna's Hummingbird at our feeder. She defends it from another female and an occasional first-year male. But in this weather the feeders freeze solid in about 4 hours.

The Anna's Hummingbirds are the earliest risers at our feeders, coming in for a drink as soon as there is an orange glow in the eastern sky (as seen in the photo above). They also get a drink at dusk, long after the other birds have left the seed feeders.

How do you keep the feeders from freezing in this weather? Some people hang their feeders near a porch light with a heat lamp in it. In our case, we bring the feeder in at night and put it out before dawn. To keep it from freezing during the middle of the day? We have two feeders and switch them off every few hours as they freeze.

Anna's Hummingbirds are fairly hardy, but like many birds can't survive too many days without liquid water. During these freezing spells, liquid water is more important than food--for all birds.

For more on feeding hummingbirds see the earlier article Bird feeding... Hummingbirds.

In the backyard... Song Sparrow

Song Sparrow, Fernhill Wetlands, Forest Grove, Oregon on 7 February 2009 by Greg Gillson.

 

The most common resident sparrow in the Pacific Northwest is the Song Sparrow. It is found in brush piles and wetlands throughout the region and, indeed, most of North America. Migrants from northern areas add to our local population in winter. Populations in 31 recognized subspecies gradually change plumage characters and measurements across the continent. West of the Cascades birds are fairly distinctive. They are dull and rusty-patterned over a gray background (as photographed above). Most other populations are brighter with brown streaks on a whiter background color. See the Sibley Guide to Birds to get an idea of some of the variation.

Go up to any willow clump or blackberry tangle and "pish" (make a drawn out "psh-sh-sh-sh" sound), or make squeaking sounds by kissing the back of your hand, and a Song Sparrow likely will pop up immediately like a jack-in-the-box.

Both male and female Song Sparrows sing, and all through the year, too. Voices vary somewhat, but I've always liked the mnemonic: "Madge! Madge! Madge! Put on your tea-kettle," as a good description of harsh opening notes, followed by a jumble of musical notes. Bewick's Wrens have similar quality songs of harsh single notes and trills in various patterns. The common call note of Song Sparrow is a loud "chimp" call. They also give a very soft, high-pitched squeaking "see" call when alarmed.

Female Song Sparrows build a nest in a low bush and lay 4 eggs. They nest 2-3 times in a single season.

Song Sparrow, Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve, Hillsboro, Oregon on 1 December 2009 by Greg Gillson.

 

There are many sparrows and female finches with striped breasts similar to Song Sparrows. Such common similar birds in the Pacific NW are Savannah, Fox, Vesper, and Lincoln's Sparrows, as well as females of House, Purple, and Cassin's Finches. The female Red-winged Blackbird is another striped bird often confused with sparrows by beginners.

Tracks

We've had a few sunny days since last week's rains. Thus, there are many animal tracks in the mud at Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve in Hillsboro, Oregon. Those are coyote dog tracks above (as correctly noted by Mike Patterson). Dogs are not allowed on the preserve, but, hey, they can't read, right? Coyotes have smaller foot pads than the photo above.

A deer passed this way (above).

The hand-like print of a raccoon is above.

A bunch of sparrow tracks around a puddle in the marsh (above) most likely belong to Song Sparrow.