Towheeblog

Further out Baker Creek  Road there were two bluebirds on the wires above the mailbox for 19000 Baker Creek Road.  Despite abundant open space in Yamhill County bluebirds are not widespread.  They do not survive in agricultural land that is intensively exploited for profit and drenched in chemicals.  These birds feed on the ground in grassy areas and thus prone to ingest whatever is sprayed or scattered across the land, be it grasshopper or poison.

Finally today in our garden I got some shots of those warbler tail lights…the bright white patches the yellow-rumps–Myrtle and Audubon’s alike–flash when they attack one another or dive at the chickadees, those bright warning signals…aggression alerts.

Here we have one myrtle and one Audubon’s flitting about a suet log, tail lights flashing brightly:

Moat birds are at peak plumage now, courtship season is here for some, soon to arrive for others.  Here we see a myrtle enjoying a quick snack, suety beak just part of the fun:

I saw at least four Varied Thrush at Grenfell Park along Baker Creek Road.  The don’t pose like cranes or red-tails or even robins.  Shadows, shade and tangled branches are their preferred milieu:

Finchy is as finchy does:

Americna Goldfinch on cement…Lessers and siskins in the platform feeder.