Towheeblog

It was cold, damp and foggy today.  At the Yamhill Sewer Ponds the warm pond water gave up its surface moisture to form think clouds of fog, obscuring clear views of the four duck species.  New for the year were a few female Ring-ducked Ducks.  The Bufflehead sorority is still present, no males in view.I am collecting a list of creatures that like sewer ponds: many dabbling and diving ducks, geese, Killdeer and migrating shorebirds, sanitation engineers, birders.  Know any other creatures?

I still cherish my fond memories of a blistering late August day at the Henderson Sewer Ponds in southern Nevada.  It was the only water within miles.  Every hungry and water-seeking migrant was there.  And the perfume in the air was unique, supremely memorable.

I wasn’t the only attentive birder out this morning.  This cat was along French Lane.In McMinnville: an adult Cooper’s Hawk viewing potential meals from his treetop on NE 18th Street. In our garden, one of the insatiable House Finches with a sunflower seed.

Yamhill Sewage Ponds (restricted access), Yamhill, Oregon, US
Nov 4, 2015 11:20 AM – 11:50 AM. 13 species

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  15
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)  175
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)  4     all females
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  20     all females
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  1
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  12
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  3
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)  1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  30
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)  3
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  4
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)  1
Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)  16

French Ln., Yamhill, Oregon, US
Nov 4, 2015 11:00 AM – 11:05 AM. 8 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  X
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  1
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)  1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  15
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  X
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  2
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)  3

Carlton town, Yamhill County, Yamhill, Oregon, US
Nov 4, 2015 12:30 PM – 12:32 PM.  5 species

Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)  X
Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)  1
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)  X
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  X
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  X