Towheeblog

For the first time this month I got the chance to join Paul Sullivan’s Monday morning walk in Rotary Park.  One of the first birds we saw was Red-breasted Nuthatch feeding on the ground near the parking lot. One of the Spotted Towhees we heard in the underbrush. The Black-headed Grosbeaks were singing all around us, both genders do sing.  And all we managed to see well were female grosbeaks: We saw two Downys together, including a youngster following around an adult while foraging on tree trunks. The juvenile appeared quite ruddy on its chest.We saw adult Robins carrying food to this nest near the start of the trail, the new nest apparently built atop last year’s.

McMinnville Rotary Park (Tice Park), Yamhill, Oregon, US
May 16, 2016 8:30 AM – 9:40 AM.  [I could not stay for entire walk which lasts most of the morning.]  14 species

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  X
Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)  X
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)  2
Hutton’s Vireo (Vireo huttoni)  1
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  2
Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)  1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  16
Orange-crowned Warbler (Oreothlypis celata)  1
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)  1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  10
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)  3
Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana)  1
Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus)  8
Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus)  X