Very little water left at Baskett Slough. One-half of the marsh south of Coville Road is dried up. Coville Pond is down to a small puddle jammed with doomed fish. The water-prone birds concentrated in the remaining wet wetlands. The finches are dining on ripe thistle seeds. We saw nothing unusual, three species of migrating shorebird and a single first-year California Gull. Besides Mallards, the most numerous species was Violet-green Swallow. One channel with water still in it was so crowded with Mallards it resembled an ant hill, not mallard mound.
Greater Yellowlegs above. Below: thistle patch with American Goldfinch and bee each working on their chosen part of the plant. Finch eating seeds, bee gathering pollen.
Ground squirrel above ground. Kestrel far above ground. Pennyroyal, well grounded:
Baskett Slough NWR, Polk, Oregon, US
Aug 9, 2018. 30 species
Cinnamon Teal (Spatula cyanoptera) X
Mallard (Northern) (Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos/conboschas) X
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 27
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 17
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 12
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) 2
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) X
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) 6
Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) 4
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 5
California Gull (Larus californicus) 1
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 2
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 3
Western Wood-Pewee (Contopus sordidulus) 2
California Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica) 2
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) X
Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina) 300
Barn Swallow (American) (Hirundo rustica erythrogaster) X
Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes bewickii) 1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) X
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) X
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) 2
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 1
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) 2
Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) 1
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) X
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) 1
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) X
Purple Finch (Western) (Haemorhous purpureus californicus) X
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) X
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