Towheeblog

Peter Enticknap and I went to Baskett Slough mid-day.  We found Canvasbacks in two ponds nearby, and Horned Larks in a field at the refuge along Covill Road.Here’s the single female in with a few Lesser Scaup in the private farm pond on Smithfield Road just west of the Baskett Slough Refuge.  This pond is an the northwestern most elbow of Smithfield Road.Later we checked out the private pond on Patty Lane about a mile east of Hwy 99.  It had a number of Ring-necks…and a pair of Canvasbacks.Altogether we had a dozen Bald Eagles, ten at the refuge, one on the east end of Smithfield Road being dive-bombed on its perch by red-tails, and one soaring along Hwy 99 south of Amity.  Other sightings of some interest.  Three Turkey Vultures, tow over refuge and one in Yamhill south of Amity.  Dunlin at refuge and on seasonal slough along Stevenson Road west of Hwy 99 in north Polk County.  Least Sandpipers at that slough as well which seemed to freak out eBird.  Trumpeters on main lake south of Covill Road in refuge.  We only saw one meadowlark but did get to hear one sing as well.

One of the harriers we saw was an adult male.  The eagles covered the age spectrum from one year to adults.  Ost striking, however, was this dark red-tail at Baskett:

ELEGANCE AND SKILL

AMITY POND

I did not notice the Killdeer until I looked at my picture…duh.  They are on the mud in the background.

EAGLE OAK OVERLOOKING FIELD WITH THOUSANDS OF CACKLERS
Two kids and a third-year bird:

DAY IN THE FIELD, WITH NUTRIA, AND ONE STAY-AT-HOME

Then there were warblers fly-catching from a log in a pond and other birds of interest, or so numerous they could not be overlooked.  Tomorrow I will build a gallery of great Cackling Geese images, imagine the sound of thousands of wings, so loud it made a counter-point to the intense calling every time one of the eagles would arouse a flock from the ground:

Baskett Slough NWR, Polk, Oregon, US
Mar 9, 2019. 30 species
Cackling Goose  5000
Canada Goose  X
Trumpeter Swan  16     straight forehead and beak, all black beak
Northern Shoveler  X
Gadwall  10
Mallard  X
Northern Pintail  X
Bufflehead  X
American Coot  X
Killdeer  20
Dunlin  40
Great Egret  2
Turkey Vulture  2
Northern Harrier  6
Bald Eagle  10
Red-tailed Hawk  7
American Kestrel  3
California Scrub-Jay  2
American Crow  1
Horned Lark  3
Tree Swallow  15
American Robin  1000
European Starling  X
Golden-crowned Sparrow  15
Song Sparrow  1
Spotted Towhee  1
Western Meadowlark  1
Red-winged Blackbird  X
Brewer’s Blackbird  X
Yellow-rumped Warbler  12

oregon2020–Smithfield Road, Polk, Oregon, US
Mar 9, 2019. 12 species

American Wigeon  X
Mallard  X
Northern Pintail  X
Canvasback  1
Lesser Scaup  5
Bald Eagle  1
Red-tailed Hawk  2
American Kestrel  1
California Scrub-Jay  X
American Robin  X
Golden-crowned Sparrow  X
Song Sparrow  X

Stevenson Road seasonal slough, Polk, Oregon, US
Mar 9, 2019, 5 species

Mallard  20
Green-winged Teal  75
Dunlin  50
Least Sandpiper  40
American Kestrel  2

Patty Ln., Yamhill, Oregon, US
Mar 9, 2019,  11 species

Canada Goose  X
American Wigeon  30
Mallard  X
Canvasback  2
Ring-necked Duck  12
Pied-billed Grebe  1
Anna’s Hummingbird  1
California Scrub-Jay  1
American Robin  X
Dark-eyed Junco  X
Golden-crowned Sparrow  X