(Back to front) Long-billed Dowitcher, Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve, Hillsboro, Oregon on May 4, 2010 by Greg Gillson.Wow! This first week of May has certainly been filled with birds! Each showery day with southerly winds brought in more neotropical migrants and shorebirds. This is the peak of spring migration. The 7 days from Friday, April 30 to Thursday, May 6 recorded over 100 species at Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve in Hillsboro, Oregon!
The first local BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS and WESTERN TANAGERS of spring arrived. The first local GREEN HERONS of spring were spotted on May 2.This week has seen an increase of migrant shorebirds. Especially noteworthy were the lone SOLITARY SANDPIPERS seen a couple of days. These have a very narrow migration window, approximately April 20 - May 8. They are also not common and hide themselves in the grassy fringes of the marsh in shallow water. Total numbers of shorebirds are low at Jackson Bottom, as mudflats are not extensive. However, the variety has been good. Single LESSER YELLOWLEGS, SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, and SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS (5/5) joined some of the more numerous species.
Warblers were conspicuous migrants this week, with NASHVILLE WARBLER (4/30), MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER (up to 4 birds on 5/6; photo above, left), and YELLOW WARBLERS among the normally less-frequently reported warblers of Jackson Bottom that were seen this week. Many migrant WILSON'S WARBLERS (photo above, right) were along the Tualatin River this week. Hundreds of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS continue to be found.
Nearly 1,000 VAUX'S SWIFTS were over the wetlands amid the showers of May 3. CLIFF SWALLOW numbers were in the several hundreds on a couple of days. A rather locally rare pair of PURPLE MARTINS (photo, right) were present most of the week. They could remain to nest, or move on--we'll have to wait and see. A HERMIT THRUSH showed itself on 5/6 (photo, left).A first record for the Preserve, and only the 7th record for Washington County, a DUSKY FLYCATCHER was present on May 5.
Here is the list of the bird species seen this week.
Greater White-fronted Goose
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Gadwall
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
California Quail
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
American Coot
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Vaux's Swift
Anna's Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Dusky Flycatcher
Hammond's Flycatcher
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
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Nashville Warbler
MacGillivray's Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Western Tanager
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Black-headed Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bullock's Oriole
Purple Finch
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
Evening Grosbeak
House Sparrow