Towheeblog

Our small group of birders enjoyed a mild April day on Sauvie Island.  Sunshine, blue sky, snow-clad volcano shoulders above the surrounding horizon, bugling of cranes, calling of geese.

Dark morph Red-tail along Multnomah Channel about two miles west of Wapato.

Eagles at nest:One of several male Common Mergansers in Multnomah Channel:Snow Geese above, spooked our of their marsh by passing eagle.  Great Egret, below, at Wapato:Juvenile Glaucous-winged Gull over the Columbia.At one overlook we watched a female harrier cruise left, then right, then left again, then drop down…soon this harrier was eating a duck of unknown species in the tall grass.Above: some of the ducks at Wapato, here many Ring-necked, a few geese, wigeon.  Below: geese before Mt. St. Helens…there she blows…at some later date,

Sauvie Island–Multnomah, Multnomah, Oregon, US
Jan 14, 2018 9:00 AM – 2:30 PM.  40 species

Snow Goose (Anser caerulescens)  2000
Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii)  X
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  X
Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator)  15     along Multnomah Channel in sunken marshes west of Wapato
Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus)  500
Cinnamon Teal (Spatula cyanoptera)  X
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)  X
American Wigeon (Mareca americana)  X
Mallard (Northern) (Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos/conboschas)  X
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)  X
Green-winged Teal (American) (Anas crecca carolinensis)  X
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  10
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)  X
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)  5     On Columbia River
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  X
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  X
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  X
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)  1
Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus)  5     on buot in Columbia River
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)  30
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  5
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  2
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius)  3
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  10
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  6
American Coot (Fulica americana)  X
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis)  2000
Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens)  X
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  X
Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna)  1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) (Colaptes auratus [cafer Group])  2
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)  6
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)  1
Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)  X
California Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)  X
Common Raven (Corvus corax)  4
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  X
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) (Junco hyemalis [oreganus Group])  X
Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)  X
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  X

Sauvie’s Island Lower–Columbia Cty, Columbia, Oregon, US
Jan 14, 2018. 12 species

Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii)  X
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  X
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  X
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)  X
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  6
American Coot (Fulica americana)  X
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis)  X
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)  1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  X
Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)  X
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)  X
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  X