Towheeblog

The residents of Portland have a nice wildlife regude at their backdoor–Tualatin River NWR. I stopped for an hour this afternoon as I prepare to fly to Ohio for big bird fest. A Black-bellied Plover in breeding colors, flanked by some of the Long-billed Dowitchers with their beaksburied in their work.

Pair of Flickers chiseling out this spring’s nesting hole in a dead snag.
Tualatin River NWR–Atfálat’i Unit, Washington, US-OR. Apr 30, 2013 3:00 PM. 33 species

Canada Goose X
Gadwall X
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler X
Northern Pintail X
Green-winged Teal 60
Ring-necked Duck X
Lesser Scaup X
Bufflehead 1
Ring-necked Pheasant 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey 1
American Coot X
Black-bellied Plover 2
Semipalmated Plover X
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Western Sandpiper X
Long-billed Dowitcher X
Vaux’s Swift 10
Northern Flicker 2 chiseloing a nest hole
Western Scrub-Jay 2
American Crow 5
Tree Swallow 150
Barn Swallow 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
American Robin 2
European Starling 1
Song Sparrow 3
Golden-crowned Sparrow 2
Red-winged Blackbird X
Brewer’s Blackbird X
Bonus photo: an American Goldfinch female feeding on weed seed at Tubbs Island, San Pablo Bay NWR over the past weekend.