Towheeblog

WEDNESDAY Jan 31, 2018

This afternoon there was no peregrine on his accustomed perch. It is in a dead Doug-fir spar beyond the north end of Pinot Noir Drive.  Yesterday morning, there he was, in the best light this late January can afford.  Where does he hunt and where does he roost?  So many questions the bird refuses to answer.

At the peregrine point the best bird I saw today was a Pacific Wren lurking in the berry  bushes, and spying on the dog and me.

Yesterday No  Name Pond was duckless as loud construction equipment labored nearby.  It was quiet this afternoon and the usual ducks were back.

Meanwhile at Yamhill Sewer Ponds this morning the ducks dined on daphnia as I’ve come to expect.  Also, a trio of snipe were in the marsh…until they noticed dog and me.  Then they zig-zagged around the sky before landing further away.

Blooming has begun.  Crocus. Hellebore.  Vinca.  Dutch iris.

Wherever the soil is water-logged the chorus-frogs’ frog-chorus is in full voice.  The unseen songsters who don’t care that it is not spring.

Pinot Noir Drive NW, Yamhill, Oregon, US
Jan 30, 2018 10:00 AM – 10:20 AM.13 species

Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)  X
Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna)  X
Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)  X
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)  1
California Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)  X
White-breasted Nuthatch (Pacific) (Sitta carolinensis aculeata/alexandrae)  1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  X
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  X
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) (Junco hyemalis [oreganus Group])  X
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  X
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)  X
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  X
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  X

Pinot Noir Drive NW, Yamhill, Oregon, US
Jan 31, 2018 3:50 PM – 4:10 PM.11 species

Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)  X
Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna)  1
Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)  4
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) (Colaptes auratus [cafer Group])  1
California Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)  2
Pacific Wren (Troglodytes pacificus)  1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  X
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) (Junco hyemalis [oreganus Group])  X
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  2
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  X
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  X

Merlot Marsh–private land, Yamhill, Oregon, US
Jan 31, 2018. 8 species

Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)  X
Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna)  1
California Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)  1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  X
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) (Junco hyemalis [oreganus Group])  20
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  X
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)  X
Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria)  18

No Name Pond, McMinnville, OR, Yamhill, Oregon, US
Jan 31, 2018.  5 species

Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)  20
Mallard (Northern) (Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos/conboschas)  10
Green-winged Teal (American) (Anas crecca carolinensis)  8
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  4
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)  1