Towheeblog

Paul Sullivan and I birded the Sheridan Sewer Ponds here in Yamhill County today.  A couple hours well-spent.  Then we checked some back roads on our way back to McMinnville.

The ponds were rich in ducks of a few species.  We were both impressed by the abundance of Bufflehead that are usually seen in smaller numbers at any location.  Also, plentiful were shoveler, ruddies, Lesser Scaup.  A second year Bald Eagle came along to chase and bother the coots.  Dunlin, Tree and a single Violet-green Swallow, Black Phoebe–our other treasured finds.  Plenty of scolding Killdeer on the berms, naturally.
The eagle.  In first pic I left the Brewer’s Blackbird on near berm as size comparison.  Even at sixty yards the eagle is much larger in the frame:

DUNLIN.  In second image (a duplicate of the first, but marked) they are above the  bold white line, in third they are to left of the left-most sleeping shoveler:

Relaxed coots before the eagle arrived:

Buffleheads and other waterfowl.  As I approached the second Bufflehead flock it panicked and took wing.  The nearby coots were slower to react.  No wonder they are a favorite eagle snack.

Here we have avi-personification of “silly goose”.  Strutting on a mound of detritus makes you great?  This gander could enter politics for sure.

Sheridan WTP Ponds (restricted access), Yamhill, Oregon, US

Mar 11, 2020. 29 species

Cackling Goose  X
Canada Goose  50
Northern Shoveler  300
American Wigeon  20
Mallard  40
Green-winged Teal  25
Ring-necked Duck  15
Lesser Scaup  250
Bufflehead  300
Ruddy Duck  120
Eurasian Collared-Dove  X
American Coot  400
Killdeer  25
Dunlin  30
Double-crested Cormorant  5
Turkey Vulture  2
Red-tailed Hawk  2
American Kestrel  1
Black Phoebe  1
California Scrub-Jay  2
American Crow  3
Common Raven  2     north of Hwy 18
Tree Swallow  30
Violet-green Swallow  1
American Robin  X
Song Sparrow  X
Red-winged Blackbird  X
Brewer’s Blackbird  X
Yellow-rumped Warbler  X

Deer Creek crossing on Bellevue Hwy, Yamhill, Oregon, US
Mar 11, 2020
5 species

Virginia Rail  5
Great Blue Heron  1
Northern Flicker  X
California Scrub-Jay  X
American Crow  X

SW Bellevue Hwy, Yamhill, Yamhill, Oregon, US
Mar 11, 2020 11:53 AM – 12:08 PM
Protocol: Traveling
6.0 mile(s)
9 species

Mallard  X
Green-winged Teal  25
Northern Harrier  1
Red-tailed Hawk  2
American Kestrel  4
California Scrub-Jay  X
American Crow  X
Common Raven  2
European Starling  X

Briedwell Road, Yamhill, Oregon, US
Mar 11, 2020
5.0 mile(s)
8 species

Tundra Swan  10
Mallard  X
Green-winged Teal  X
Ring-necked Duck  X
Eurasian Collared-Dove  X
Red-tailed Hawk  X
American Kestrel  X
California Scrub-Jay  X