Towheeblog

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