Towheeblog

There were plenty of First Of Year species today–one stop at the pond pn Pheasant Hill Road  brought several ducks and waterbirds onto the year list, plus a heron.  Best FOY were Wilson’s Snipe in marsh at Joe Dancer (9), and Varied Thrush (7) in the abandoned apple orchard next to the west edge of Grenfell Park on Baker Creek Road.

But the stars today were Chestnut-backed Chickadees in our garden.  I refilled the suet log in early afternoon and stood four feet away.  It took the first chickasueter about five seconds to land and start scarfing.

In the last image the little guy is having to gulp down a throat-clogging bit of suet.  The chickadee has a reputation for being easily tamed.  Appetite overcomes caution and they will learn to land your shoulder, feed from your hand. I don’t try to tame them because I don’t really trust all my own species around a tame chickadee.  House Sparrows and even egrets came be tamed with food.
Click here for story about tamed egrets and herons in Marin County.  Fine as long as none of the neighbors launch an egret jihad.  Our ancestors almost drove these birds extinct before 1920–murdering them for feathers to decorate women’s hats.
THURSDAY GALLERY

The two seedeaters are House Finch and Golden-crowned Sparrow.

NOT BIRDS

Pheasant Hill Rd. & pond, Yamhill, Oregon, US
Jan 3, 2020
9 species

Mallard  4
Green-winged Teal  8
Ring-necked Duck  30
Hooded Merganser  2
Common Merganser  4
Pied-billed Grebe  1
American Coot  12
Great Blue Heron  1
American Robin  1

Baker Creek Road, Yamhill, Oregon, US
Jan 3, 2020
11 species

Eurasian Collared-Dove  3
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Northern Flicker  2
American Kestrel  5
California Scrub-Jay  7
European Starling  40
Varied Thrush  9
American Robin  30
Song Sparrow  1
Spotted Towhee  1
Brewer’s Blackbird  10

Joe Dancer Park, Yamhill, Oregon, US
Jan 3, 2020
9 species

Wilson’s Snipe  9
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Northern Flicker  1
California Scrub-Jay  1
American Crow  X
Lesser Goldfinch  4
Dark-eyed Junco  60
Song Sparrow  12
Spotted Towhee  3