Jackson Bottom birds: April 23-29, 2010

New interpretive plant signs in the upland area, Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve, Hillsboro, Oregon on April 21, 2010 by Greg Gillson.

 

April showers bring... migrants!

Lots of new birds arrived each day this week at Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve in Hillsboro, Oregon.

A locally rare migrant MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER was present on April 26. That day a YELLOW WARBLER was reported. ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, WARBLING VIREOS, VAUX'S SWIFTS, and CLIFF SWALLOWS increased in numbers this week.

Both VIRGINIA RAILS and SORAS were heard calling in the marsh this week. An AMERICAN BITTERN was obvious at Kingfisher Marsh on APRIL 23.

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE migrated overhead starting on April 27. The first BLUE-WINGED TEAL of spring was spotted on April 23.

The pale gray PEREGRINE FALCON that has been seen every few days for the past month or so showed up several times during the week. A dark immature stooped on shorebirds over the mudflats of the Gene Pool on April 29. Eight immature BALD EAGLES were seen chasing an OSPREY that carried a fish on April 25. The nesting BALD EAGLES began bringing small prey items to the nest, so the egg(s) must have hatched about April 25.

Shorebird migrants included the first SPOTTED SANDPIPERS of spring on April 26. Two SOLITARY SANDPIPERS were present on April 28. Several other shorebird species arrived this week, the peak of their spring migration.

Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve is located at 2600 SW Hillsboro Hwy, Hillsboro, Oregon.

Greater White-fronted Goose
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Gadwall
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Virginia Rail
Sora
American Coot
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Vaux's Swift
Anna's Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Warbling Vireo
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
MacGillivray's Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
Evening Grosbeak

Lincoln's Sparrow ID

Lincoln's Sparrow, Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve, Hillsboro, Oregon on April 22, 2010 by Greg Gillson.

 

The Lincoln's Sparrow is a regular migrant through the Pacific Northwest in April and again October-November. Small numbers may be found through the winter. Breeding birds nest in high mountain meadows and snow-melt bogs in the Pacific Northwest.

Many newer birders have this species on their list of desired birds to see. There are two challenges to identifying sparrows. The first is to learn the names of the head feather tracts that are key in identifying the various species. Equally important is to learn the behavior of these birds to get a sufficiently diagnostic view.

Using the photo above as a guide, you can see that the Lincoln's Sparrow's upperparts are rather pale brown. The face is pale gray with an obvious buff-colored (yellow-brown) submustachial stripe. The throat and belly are white, but there is a buffy breastband with fine dark brown streaks.

If you haven't learned the feather tracts of a sparrow's head, now is the time. Some new birders seem reluctant to learn the head feathers of the sparrows. But it is really no different than teaching the parts of the face to a toddler: "eye, nose, chin, ear." So don't be afraid to learn these new terms.

From the top of the head, the Lincoln's Sparrow depicted above has a pale gray central crown stripe. Next is the brown lateral crown stripe. Below that is the wide gray eyebrow stripe (or supercilium). There is a thin brown eyeline back from the eye. This species has a subdued thin white eyering. The lore (area between eye and bill) is rather pale on this bird. On some species of sparrows the dark eyeline is continuous, from bill through the eye and back. Back and down from the eye is an area of feathers composing the ear coverts (or auriculars). In this bird they are pale brownish-gray.

There is a thin dark mustachial stripe from the base of the bill back under the eye and the bottom border of the ear coverts. Next under this is a key mark on Lincoln's Sparrow--a broad buffy submoustachial stripe (also called malar stripe). This is bordered on the bottom by another dark line called the lateral throat stripe. The throat is white with thin dark streaks.

Now let's compare with the common Song Sparrow of the Pacific Northwest....

Song Sparrow, Fernhill Wetlands, Forest Grove, Oregon on November 27, 2008 by Greg Gillson.

 

The Song Sparrow is rusty brown on dark gray, much darker-hued than the Lincoln's Sparrow. Notably, the submustachial line is whitish, not buff. The reddish-brown breast streaks are wide and densely placed on a gray or whitish background.

In short, the Song Sparrow is dark rusty and gray while the Lincoln's Sparrow is pale gray and buff.

While both these sparrow may sulk in the bushes, their response to pishing is starkly different. Pishing, if you did not know, is a means to attract birds by squeaking or making "psh-psh-psh..." sounds. Interspersing pygmy owl or screech owl calls into the pishing, also attracts some birds.

Pishing brings Song Sparrows out of the bush and right up into your face. Here they stay for as long as you keep it up.

On the other hand, Lincoln's Sparrows may pop up to the top of the bramble to give you a quick look. But then they fly down and away and do not respond again. Thus, it is much more difficult to see Lincoln's Sparrows, even when they are present. You have to identify them in your first, quick look.

Of course, you may identify sparrows by their voice. Sparrows sing, have a primary call note, and have a secondary call note that may be described as a "flight note."

Song Sparrows sing a song throughout the year with husky introductory notes and a loose trill, sounding similar to Madge, Madge, Madge! Put on your tea-kettle. The common call note is a loud chimp call. The flight note, often heard in the tall grass as you walk past is a very high, soft see note.

Lincoln's Sparrows have bubbly trills they sing in their mountain forest bogs in breeding season, but are rarely heard in the lowlands in migration. Their primary call note is a hard check note, similar to, but softer than, the note of the Sooty Fox Sparrow. The flight note of Lincoln's Sparrow is a high soft zeee, similar to Song Sparrow's note, but slightly buzzy. These "flight notes" are often given as a response to a predator or given by birds hiding in the blackberry tangles as you walk past.

Now, given these identification and behavioral tips, you may be better able to find and correctly identify Lincoln's Sparrows.

Vaux's Swifts: amazing aerialists

Vaux's Swift, Fernhill Wetlands, Forest Grove, Oregon on 22 September 2009 by Greg Gillson.

 

The Vaux's Swift might be thought of as a Pacific NW breeding specialty, occurring from SE Alaska across southern British Columbia and northern Idaho, south in the wooded mountains into central California. They winter mostly from southern Mexico to Panama.

However, there are also non-migratory Vaux's Swifts in Mexico, Panama, and northern Venezuela. These are sometimes considered a separate species, Dusky-backed Swift, Chaetura richmondi.

Vaux's Swifts arrive in the latter half of April in the Pacific NW and form large migratory flocks in September as they head south. Large migratory flocks of swifts roost at night in brick chimneys. One famous roost is in downtown Portland at the Chapman Elementary School. By mid-September 10-35,000 swifts may use this roost. This has become quite the local spectacle, and problem, with some 400-2000 people visiting each night to watch, according to the Audubon Society of Portland.

These swifts may choose to nest in chimneys in towns, but often use hollow snags in the forest. They build their nests of saliva and small twigs. During the day they forage over woods, waters, and towns with high, buzzy twittering calls.

Though they may look superficially like swallows, there are many differences. Swifts have weak feet and cannot perch on tree branches or wires. They cling to the inside of hollow snags or chimneys at night, but spend most of the day in speedy flight. They are dusky gray with paler throat and rump. The wings have the wrist joint very near the body, thus they have twinkling flight and brief soaring. Their tail feathers are short and bristle-like.

This swift was named in honor of American minerologist William Vaux (1811-1882). Since he pronounced his name as "vawks," that is the pronunciation of the name of the swift, not "voze" as it might be pronounced if French.

Jackson Bottom birds: April 17-22, 2010

Greater Yellowlegs, Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve, Hillsboro, Oregon on April 21, 2010 by Greg Gillson.

 

There were heavy migrations this week of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS and CLIFF SWALLOWS, with about 1000 each on April 20.

A PEREGRINE FALCON has been hanging around. A very rare GOLDEN EAGLE flew through on April 17. A MERLIN was reported April 22.

New migrants for the wetlands this week include AMERICAN BITTERN (4/18), BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD (4/19), VAUX'S SWIFT (4/20), WILSON'S WARBLER (4/20), WARBLING VIREO (4/21), an early BULLOCK'S ORIOLE (4/21), and LESSER YELLOWLEGS (4/22).

Dozens of WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS and GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS migrated through this week. Several LINCOLN'S SPARROWS were also noted. A WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, perhaps the same one noted for a couple of weeks in the front of the building, also put in an appearance at the back feeders this week.

Shorebird numbers increased this week. A flock of about 25 GREATER YELLOWLEGS was noisily flying about the wetlands on April 22. DUNLIN were molting into their breeding plumage with black belly patches and a few rusty feathers on the back. Within a few weeks they will live up to their former name, Red-backed Sandpiper.

Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve is located at 2600 SW Hillsboro Hwy, Hillsboro, Oregon.

Here is the list of 82 species reported for the week of April 17-22, 2010.

Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Golden Eagle
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Herring Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Vaux's Swift
Anna's Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Warbling Vireo
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bullock's Oriole
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
Evening Grosbeak
House Sparrow

Lunch with the Birds revisited

American Goldfinch, Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve, Hillsboro, Oregon on April 21, 2010 by Greg Gillson.

 

Back in October I began my turn hosting Lunch with the Birds, a free weekly public invitation to watch birds for an hour at noon at Jackson Bottom Wetlands in Hillsboro, Oregon. Started 12 years ago, many local people have been introduced to the wetlands and its birds.

Recently we moved from the north viewstand down to the back deck of the Education Center, one mile to the south. The original ponds had grown up with willows and shorebirds no longer occur and the ducks are distant. The Bald Eagles have moved their nest to a more distant grove of trees. There just weren't as many birds visible at the north viewstand as there used to be.

The Education Center is about 7 years old now, has restrooms, gift shop, a real Bald Eagle nest in the exhibit hall with other educational displays, and a big covered deck. Landscaping has been established with native plants and interpretive signs. Bird feeding stations have been set up with easy viewing. The Center is the trailhead for over 3 miles of wetland trails. It just made sense to move to the south end.

And that's just what we did earlier this month. Yesterday was the second week having Lunch with the Birds at the Education Center. The first week we had a retirement group visit. This week, just 3 "regulars" showed.

As we talked about birds on the back deck we watched birds come and go at the feeders: Red-winged Blackbirds, Pine Siskins, Spotted Towhees, American Goldfinches, Song Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Black-capped Chickadees, White-crowned Sparrows, Lesser Goldfinches, Mourning Doves, and Rufous Hummingbirds. A rather rare White-throated Sparrow showed up, too!

And out in the distance, Mallards, Green-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Ring-necked Ducks, Northern Shovelers, and Gadwalls made up the ducks. And a Bald Eagle circled overhead....

Join me every Wednesday at noon at the Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve Education Center, 2600 SW Hillsboro Hwy, Hillsboro, Oregon, just one mile south of Baseline and First Street in downtown Hillsboro.

NW Birding blogs

Rufous Hummingbird, Forest Grove, Oregon on 16 April 2010, by Greg Gillson.

 

It has been 9 months since I last wrote a birding carnival--a peek at the various topics that birding bloggers in the Pacific NW are writing about.

As always, I am especially interested in good photography, interesting topics, and accurate and educational information.

Dave Irons wrote about refractive colors on birds on the BirdFellow blog: When Black is Green: Iridescence on Common Loons

Mike Patterson's North Coast Diaries discusses the migratory races of Ruby-crowned Kinglets passing through right now in: Two kinds of kinglets

On Rich Ditch's Photography Blog, Rich explains how he uses his vehicle as a birding blind in How I did it.

John Rakestraw took us birding in Tillamook Bay, Oregon, in Three Graces Tidal Area. I've only known those rocks as "Harlequin Duck Rocks."

Lee Rentz takes us exploring in the Bodie Hills of California. No birds, but great scenic photography of a little-known place in his post titled: Shhhh … Don’t tell anyone about this leaked federal document!.

The Northwest Nature Nut takes us Down the Garden Path at Bishop's Close Gardens.

The Backyard Bird Shop discusses The Hazards of Migration and what we can do about it in our own backyards.

The Portland Oregon Backyard Birds blog visited Commonwealth Park in Beaverton.

John E. Riutta reviews the new iBird Yard, the digital field guide for the iPad.

In an inexplicable range expansion east of Portland, Andy Frank photographed the first Multnomah County, Oregon Wrentit.

Another County Birding Record, Charles Swift photographed a Latah Co. Long-billed Curlew near Moscow, Idaho on his BirdaPalousa Blog.

Spring has arrived in Seattle, and the Nature Geek Northwest (aka Fiona) photographed some spring flowers. And I even recognize some of them! Her post is Now blooming in Oak Bay Native Plant Garden.

Robert Mortenson, the Idaho Birder, gives us some Swainson's Hawk ID tips.

Bill Schiess' Wild in Idaho gives a personal look at a bird I've never seen, in his post Sharp-tailed Grouse are at it again.

Rhett is Bound to Bird with American Bitterns as his target species at Ridgefield NWR, Washington in his post Sunshine and Life Birds.

Up in Vancouver, British Columbia, the White-crowned Sparrows have arrived and Rick Wright of Aimophila Adventures blogs about their songs.

Band-tailed Pigeon

Band-tailed Pigeon visiting a favored mineral spring at Hagg Lake, Oregon on 3 May 2009 by Greg Gillson.

 

The large Band-tailed Pigeon can be found nearly anywhere in the Pacific Northwest (for instance, stragglers have occurred throughout Idaho). However, this handsome bird breeds in mature conifer forests primarily west of the Cascades and Sierra-Nevada Mountains from western British Columbia south through California. It forages in more open oak and pine-oak woodlands throughout its range.

Another population breeds from Utah and Colorado south to western Texas, Arizona, and through the mountains of western Mexico. Additional populations breed southward into South America.

There are some birds that spend the winter visiting feeders in wooded neighborhoods of Portland, Oregon, and more do so in the oak woodlands of SW Oregon and northern California. But the majority of breeding birds withdraw from the Pacific NW to winter in central California and southward as far as northern Baja.

In March, the first returning flocks of Band-tailed Pigeons arrive in the Pacific NW. They are most common in the Coast Range. But they are not evenly distributed. They concentrate near a mineral site where they can obtain sodium and potasium for their diets. Obviously, they can obtain sodium from salt near the Pacific coast. Another main source of minerals come from mineral springs. Birds may travel over 30 miles from their nest to get minerals (Birds of Oregon: A General Reference, 2003).

They eat buds, flowers, and fruit of oaks, elderberries, cascara, madrone, and huckleberries. You may feed them cracked corn to attract them to your feeders. However, some people stop feeding birds in early summer as large flocks of Band-tailed Pigeons come in and wipe out the feeding station quickly.

Their cooing is very deep and owl-like: oo-hoo.

A tale of two White-crowned Sparrows

Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow, Fernhill Wetlands, Forest Grove, Oregon on 16 April 2010 by Greg Gillson. Notice bright white head stripes, pale stripes on back, orange bill, clean gray underparts.

 

White-crowned Sparrows are moving through the Pacific Northwest right now. I photographed this bird recently in NW Oregon.

As discussed last year (In the backyard... White-crowned Sparrow), there are 5 populations across North America.

West of the Cascades, from SW British Columbia to NW California, these represent two populations. The Puget Sound White-crowned Sparrow nests in this area and is now moving into breeding habitats--coastal headlands, valley pastures, and western Cascade clear-cuts.

On a broad band across the west, the Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow is also migrating north now. It will breed in interior British Columbia, western Alberta, and Alaska.

These birds sing during migration. The songs of the various populations across North America are different. Indeed, songs can be slightly different even within populations, as young birds learn to sing whatever local dialect they hear.


Puget Sound White-crowned Sparrow, Hayward, Oregon on 16 May 2008 by Greg Gillson. Notice dingy white head stripes, dull two-tone brown back, yellow bill, brownish sides.

 


If you want to practice separating songs, now is the time.

I transcribe the "typical" song of Puget Sound White-crowned Sparrow as a lively and sweet:

wee SWEE chilly-chilly-SWEEE cheer-cher-er

On the other hand, the song of the Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow is more mournful, with downward-sliding emphasized notes:

WEE chur chilly-chilly-CHUR

The White-crownd Sparrow songs on the Cornell Lab's online field guide are not exactly the songs I usually hear in NW Oregon, but close enough.

The song marked as "Alaska August 2006 by Geritt Vyn" is a Gambel's.

The song marked as "Oregon June 1988 Geoffery A. Keller" is a Puget Sound.

A note on field guides.

Sibley has a "Pacific" form that includes Puget Sound White-crown and the non-migratory Nuttall's form of the central California coast. The "Interior West" is the Mountain White-crown. "West Taiga" is Gambel's. "East Taiga" is the nominate leucophrys subspecies.

The National Geographic guide shows the dark-lored, pink-billed as leucophrys (includes Mountain White-crown). The pale-lored birds are split between the bright Gambel's with orange bill and the duller and browner Nuttall's with yellow bill (includes Puget Sound White-crown).

Confused? I hope not. But you can practice again in September when the birds migrate south.... Or, eastward from the Cascades practice looking for the dark-lored Mountain White-crowned among the more abundant Gambel's....

Jackson Bottom birds: April 10-16, 2010

Wow! a lot of trees leafed out over the weekend! Alders and willows are fully leafed out and the maples have bloomed. Ash, cottonwoods, and hawthorn have lots of leaves. The shrubs are full, too, with osoberry, wild rose, and snowberry making up the bulk of the riparian understory.

By mid-week the waters from last week's rains subsided substantially, though some riverside trails remained flooded.

New migrants this week included ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS (finally!) on April 12 and BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER and an early PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER on April 13. A VIRGINIA RAIL called on April 15, quite late for our first sighting of the season.

I located another BUSHTIT nest under construction during the week.

The GREAT HORNED OWL chick fledged last week and is no longer on its nest.

A stunning WHITE-THROATED SPARROW is hanging out at the front feeders. The white head stripes and throat really contrast with the dark sooty gray breast.

In mammal news, a MINK was spotted this week, verifying an anonymous report on the sightings board from last week.

Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Virginia Rail
American Coot
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Dunlin
Wilson's Snipe
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch

Anna's Hummingbird portrait

Anna's Hummingbird, Forest Grove, Oregon on 15 April 2010 by Greg Gillson.

 

This afternoon I decided to shoot some photos at the hummingbird feeder. I'm still trying to get good photos of full adult male Rufous and Anna's Hummingbirds. And, well, I'm still trying....

Instead I got photos of this Anna's Hummingbird. It may actually be a recently-fledged bird. The fresh plumage of the head feathers show crisp gray borders.

My recent bird photos (except for some digiscoped ones) are taken with my Canon 100-400mm image stabilized lens. This allows me to hand-hold the camera and get very good photos. However, today I put the camera on the tripod. This allows very sharp photos at much lower shutter speeds than I can take hand-holding.

This photo is cropped to less than 25% of full frame to show the feather details (click on photos to see full size). The lens was only zoomed about 2/3 of full (285 mm), f7.1, 1/1000 second, ISO 400, exposure compensation -0.3.

Hillsboro Library bird walk

Great Blue Heron on nest, Hillsboro, Oregon on 14 April 2010 by Greg Gillson.

 

Every Wednesday afternoon from 2:00 - 3:30 I lead a free bird walk at the Main Library at Hillsboro, Oregon. The library backs up to the Dawson Creek Corporate Park. There are a series of artificial ponds here that attract more than their share of birds that are very easy to observe.

There are three GREAT BLUE HERONS nesting in the park. Surprising is the one photographed above in a 20-foot tall Douglas-fir right next to the paved and busy trail.

In the ponds floated RING-NECKED DUCKS, LESSER SCAUP, AMERICAN WIGEON, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, MALLARDS, BUFFLEHEADS, NORTHERN SHOVELERS, CANADA GOOSE, and CACKLING GOOSE. Had we been there earlier in the day we might have seen Wood Ducks, too. Not bad for a busy city park in mid April. The winter list of ducks is much longer.

A colony of ACORN WOODPECKERS works the wetlands on the south edge of the property. The trees there are riddled with holes where they store their acorns. And, if you know where to look, there is a broken snag with a GREAT HORNED OWL nesting in it.

Additionally, today we spotted a LESSER GOLDFINCH, some WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, and a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER apparently excavating a nest hole.

No reservations are necessary if you want to join me on a future walk. Show up at the bike pavillion on the north side of the library parking lot. This is on Brookwood Parkway, east of the Hillsboro Airport (take Shute Road exit off Hwy 26 if coming from Portland.

At the coast... Whimbrel

Whimbrel, Newport, Oregon on 5 March 2010 by Greg Gillson.

 

Though common as a coastal spring and fall migrant, a few Whimbrel can usually be found along the Pacific NW coast in winter, especially from the central Oregon coast southward. Such is the bird photographed above. Similarly, a few non-breeding birds may be found through the summer. They are rare inland.

There are three main populations. They breed in the Arctic of Eurasia, Siberia, and North America (mainly Alaska).

Whimbrels are very obvious birds of estuary mudflats and outer sand beaches. There they probe for marine invertebrates in flocks sometimes up to 300 birds or more. Their calls are a long and loud series of whistled notes.

The Whimbrel, with the striped head, curved bill, and buffy underwings is similar in the Pacific NW only to the inland-breeding Long-billed Curlew and the very rare Bristle-thighed Curlew.

The Long-billed Curlew is rather rare on the coast in winter (best winter location in Pacific NW is Humboldt Bay, California) and has very extensive cinnamon wings. It nests in agricultural fields and prairies well east of the Cascades, from SW Canada southward.

The Bristle-thighed Curlew has a distinctive buffy rump and tail. They have only been found a couple of times in the Pacific NW during migration between their Hawaiian wintering islands and their very restricted Alaska breeding grounds.

Wings & Wine Bird Festival: Veneta, Oregon: May 8, 2010

Bird watchers, wine lovers, and nature enthusiasts are invited to the Fifth Annual Fern Ridge Wings and Wine Festival scheduled for Saturday, May 8, 2010 near Veneta, Oregon, west of Eugene. A wide array of activities will be held throughout the day at Domaine Meriwether’s new winery and nearby Fern Ridge Reservoir, one of Oregon’s best birding areas.

Some Activities Will Require Pre-Registration and Fees. Some events have space limitations, so register now to ensure the events you are intersted in are available.

Wings & Wine Bird Festival

Fern Ridge is located 10 miles west of Eugene, in Oregon’s southern Willamette Valley. The extensive wetlands provide unique habitats for a variety of wildlife, including an unusual array of breeding birds. The reservoir is managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineeers and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and provides thousands of acres of habitat for raptors, upland birds, shorebirds, passerines and woodpeckers. Other wildlife include deer, river otter, western pond turtle and red-legged frogs.

Fern Ridge offers a large variety of birding opportunities from advanced shorebird identification to enjoying the many species of ducks. As always, timing makes a big difference but spring is a fun and exciting time at Fern Ridge, when you may see a wonderful mixture of north bound neotropical migrants and early breeders. By April, many geese already have nests or chicks and Stilts have usually arrived. Come May, the breeders are in full force and include Stilts, Phalaropes, Yellow-headed Blackbird, American Bittern, Redhead, and the list goes on.

Jackson Bottom birds: April 3-9, 2010

Heavy rains during the week flooded most of the wetlands and trails.

At least one brood of Canada Geese goslings were hatched before the flooding, but perhaps most eggs were destroyed by the waters. The geese that lost clutches of eggs to flooding will probably attempt nesting again when the waters subside.

American Robins and Bushtits are building nests. The Great Blue Heron colony has birds sitting on nests and a Red-tailed Hawk is nesting in the Douglas-fir grove with them. The Bald Eagles are still sitting on eggs, but they have been under quite a bit of harassment from other eagles passing through. It may be two weeks before we know if the eggs are going to hatch. The Great Horned Owl chick has been seen on branches up to 15 feet away from the nest, getting ready to fledge.

Due to limited access, barely over 60 species of birds were detected this week, instead of the 80 something of last week.

Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
American Coot
Killdeer
Dunlin
California Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Anna's Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Common Yellowthroat
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch

Quest for the Mountain Quail

My boss, Sarah, expressed a desire to see Mountain Quail. A few days later we had a field trip set up through Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve. A week later we had enough participants signed up for the van trip.

Mountain Quail are sneaky and very difficult to observe generally, and rather uncommon in NW Oregon. Some people who live in forested areas told me "they come to my feeder fairly regularly." However these persons live quite far from Hillsboro, Oregon, our base of operations.

I contacted Lars Norgren who has Mountain Quail near his home at Hayward. He went out one morning to look for quail but did not hear any.

On April 1st I spent a couple of hours hiking a logging road west of Forest Grove where I saw Mountain Quail "dust baths" in the road... last fall. It was very scenic, but the road was as steep as I remembered. I got drenched in a sudden rain from a black cloud that appeared over the Coast Range while the towns below enjoyed sunny weather. Most importantly, I found no sign of quail.

Thus, we remained true to our original intent of visiting Johnson Road near Vernonia. This area is not somewhere I would send people on their own. Target shooters, illegal trash dumpers, and noisy ATV'ers are possible. On our visit today, however, all seemed pristine and quiet. The road was recently graveled and in good condition.

The forecast was horrible, though, with rain and wind predicted. As typcial for Oregon weather forecasts, such conditions did not appear. There was no wind and the showers in the valley below turned to a light dusting of snow, interspersed with brief periods of sun in the hills, much to our delight... and relief.

We walked a side road up a hill where I had seen Mountain Quail in previous years (see photo below). However, the re-growing trees are now 12-15 years old. They are perhaps too large now for Mountain Quail.

We did find Chestnut-backed and Black-capped Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Purple Finches, American Robins, and both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets. Even though it was fairly cold with a bit of off-and-on sleet or hail here, there were several Orange-crowned Warblers and Rufous Hummingbirds on our hike. Spotted Towhees, Bewick's Wrens, Song Sparrows, and Dark-eyed Juncos filled out the rest of the bird species detected.

We drove up a mile to where a new logging road skirted the ridgetop between two valleys. We got out and walked again. We had not gotten far when a a startling flurry of wings errupted along side us. A Mountain Quail burst into flight from under a small fir tree about 4 feet tall! I got a decent view as it flew away, with all blue-gray back, wings, and tail. Jeremy saw the chestnut undertail as he had a view a bit more from the side. Sarah and Diana heard, but did not see, the bird as it rocketed low down the hill and out of sight.

A long time ago and from a camera far, far away.... Mountain Quail in May 2005 near Vernonia, Oregon. Digiscoped by Greg Gillson.

We continued walking another mile of muddy logging roads but did not see or hear any more Mountain Quail. But now each member of the group knows how and where to search for this elusive species.

We saw or heard additional birds, including Steller's Jay, Common Raven, American Crow, Northern Flicker, and Red-breasted Sapsucker. Oddly, a pair of Northern Harriers were acting very territorial in the Douglas-fir and western hemlock woods, screaming and circling and landing, miles from any marshes or meadows.

A bonus bird was a huge Northern Goshawk that winged slowly up the valley providing good views for all.

So, success, but still room for better future sightings....

In the backyard... Pine Siskin

Pine Siskin, Hillsboro, Oregon on 4 March 2010 by Greg Gillson.

 

If you feature a thistle feeder with Niger seeds at your bird feeding station, you will likely get flocks of Pine Siskins occasionally, often in winter and spring. Highly, nomadic, their movements and numbers are unpredictable at any time of year.

Pine Siskins are superficially similar in coloration to female House Finches, though they are the size and shape of the smaller goldfinches to which they are closely related. Like goldfinches, their bills are small and thin and tails deeply forked. You may note a yellow wing stripe and yellow base to the tail--especially visible in flight (see photo above). The darkness of the plumage and the intensity of yellow is highly variable between individuals.

They nest fairly commonly in conifer forests throughout the mountainous regions of the Pacific Northwest. They can be hard to see high in the canopy, but easily detected by their buzzy rising calls.

In winter they often irrupt into the lowlands, following changing food resources. John Rakestraw has been seeing them recently at his feeder in Portland, Oregon and writes a bit about them on his blog.

Besides small cones of conifers, Pine Siskins also feed in winter upon the cone-like fruit of the deciduous red alder.

Jackson Bottom birds: March 27 to April 2, 2010

New migrants this week included NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS and numerous CLIFF SWALLOWS on March 29, but not thereafter. An OSPREY was observed March 31. High water forced a SORA into view for photographs on April 1.

Some other migrants that arrived earlier this spring, increased in numbers during the week, especially VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS, RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS, CINNAMON TEAL, and GREATER YELLOWLEGS.

A PILEATED WOODPECKER was reported during the week, a rare visitor. A drake EURASIAN WIGEON was present March 29 and April 1. It may be the same one reported off and on in the area for several weeks now. A WHITE-THROATED SPARROW put in an appearance at the front feeders on April 2.

Flocks of RIDGWAY’S CACKLING GEESE arrived in large numbers during the week, adding to the TAVERNER’S CACKLING GEESE that wintered, along with the resident WESTERN CANADA GEESE and wintering DUSKY and LESSER CANADA GEESE. If one wants to practice their white-cheeked goose identification, now is the time!

Several different BALD EAGLES were seen, some attacking the resident pair on their nest!

A pair of RED-TAILED HAWKS are nesting in Owl Woods, the grove of Douglas-firs on the southeast side of the Preserve, that also contains several GREAT BLUE HERON nests.

82 species this week.

Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
Wood Duck
Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
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
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Sora
American Coot
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Dunlin
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
California Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Anna's Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
Evening Grosbeak
House Sparrow