Ebenezer Scrouge, eat your heart out, we had thousands of Christmas geese and each one was alive. In fact, we had a Baskett full of winter birds. Pintail is one of those duck names that really suits:
We had five eagles, across all four age brackets: 2 first year birds on the ground near carcass hogged (or eagled) by a third year bird, then a second year bird alone on a perch and this full adult eyeballing the thousands of ducks beneath his tree:
Dunlins at dusk. They were up every time a Harrier passed nearby. And we have a hen Harrier to thank for our views of panicking snipe, in flight. No pic of the bulleting snipe.
Baskett Slough NWR, Polk, Oregon, US
Dec 25, 2015 3:45 PM – 4:25 PM. 26 species
Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii) X
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) X
Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus) 5
Gadwall (Anas strepera) X
American Wigeon (Anas americana) X
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) X
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) X
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) X
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) X
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) X
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) X
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 6
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 1
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) 3
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 5
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 3
American Coot (Fulica americana) X
Dunlin (Calidris alpina) 150
Wilson’s Snipe (Gallinago delicata) 30
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 10
Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla) X
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) X
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 1200
Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) X
Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) X
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