Yamhill Sewer Ponds, July 27, 2019
Two dogs went with me to the Yamhill Sewer ponds today. Most of the grass has been mowed so even the short-legged could see around. American Goldfinches were working on the seed heads of the thistles. Barn Swallows were whizzing across pastures, just over the backs of the Angus, and inches above the pond surfaces. No shorebirds of any kind. Here goldfinches and grosbeak in the shadows:
The young beef cattle must be really bored in their small pasture. They found me to be fascinating.
In the cow pasture the blackbird family was represented with a single Brewer’s and over a dozen cowbirds, nearly all first-year birds. So they have had another good year with other species helping to raise the young. I saw only one adult male in the cowbird crowd. This adult is marked in third image.
After two very hot days this coolish morning was apparently much to the liking of hungry birds. The woods along the creek was busy. A male Wilson’s Warbler there surprised me. So did a Pacific Wren. I doubt that either bred there, but both may have arrived recently chasing meals. Almost anywhere there are trees or brush in fruit I encounter waxwings these days. The ones I saw today were adults. But there were plenty of fledglings about. A non-descript dark, streaky little sparrow on the ground had me baffled until a passing robin screamed alarm at my presence and the little tyke flew. I saw the tell-tale tail with its parallel white lines. Young junco. Later I ran into a very newly fledged Song Sparrow and a young grosbeak.
There was also an adult Black-capped Chickadee being chased around by a youngster who kept calling as it fluttered after its parent.
BEES ON TEASEL, SPIDERS ON GRASS
22 species
Mallard 32
Eurasian Collared-Dove X
Mourning Dove 1
Turkey Vulture 1
American Kestrel 1
Western Wood-Pewee 1
California Scrub-Jay 2
Violet-green Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 11
Black-capped Chickadee 2
Pacific Wren 1
American Robin 6
Cedar Waxwing 6
Lesser Goldfinch 2
American Goldfinch 20
Dark-eyed Junco 1
Song Sparrow 3
Brown-headed Cowbird 15
Brewer’s Blackbird 1
Wilson’s Warbler 1
Black-headed Grosbeak 2
House Sparrow 3
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