Towheeblog

I was on my way to Chico this morning.  An early start got me to Ankeny NWR by 8AM.  The surprising bird of the visit was a Common Yellowthroat… only because it was a female.  She was picking bugs off the branch-ends of low-growing shrubs, until a male Song Sparrow stopped singing long enough to drive her off.  Time for an #avianmetoo movement I think.

I saw a Sora creeping through the reeds…before he saw me.  Then he froze, and finally decided I was a predator too close…and flew, giving me my best image as a reflection on the water, upside down.

Much later at Valley of the Rogue State Park a male Wrentit decided I was in his territory and came up to give me a severe looking over.

Beauteous birds, these Cinnamon Teal at Ankeny, one of several pairs:The #1 beauty of the day, was, of course, old Mt. Shasta (is she jealous of her fellow volcano in Hawaii?)…today this shape-shifter was shy Shasta, hidden behind a mask of her own home-made clouds.Ankeny NWR, Marion, Oregon, US
May 11, 2018.  31 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  X
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)  4
Cinnamon Teal (Spatula cyanoptera)  10
Gadwall (Mareca strepera)  2
American Wigeon (Mareca americana)  4
Mallard (Northern) (Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos/conboschas)  X
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)  6
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)  2
California Quail (Callipepla californica)  3
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)  X
Great Blue Heron (Blue form) (Ardea herodias [herodias Group])  1
Sora (Porzana carolina)  1
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  1
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  X
Downy Woodpecker (Pacific) (Picoides pubescens gairdnerii/turati)  1
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)  1
Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis)  1
California Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)  3
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  X
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  X
Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)  X
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  X
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  X
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  X
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)  X
Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus)  X
Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)  X
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  X
Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus)  X
American Goldfinch  2

Valley of the Rogue SP, Jackson, Oregon, US
May 11, 2018.  11 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  X
California Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)  X
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  X
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis)  X–first of year for  me
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  X
Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)  X
Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata)  1–singing and challenging my very being
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  X
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  X
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)  X
Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus)  X