Towheeblog

The dog had me out in the yard throwing a toy for her.  At the top of our fifty-foot Colorado spruce sat a bird, small and upright.  Not many birds sit that way in that place.  Merlins naturally, sometimes a flicker or jay, even a robin in full territorial mode but this was too small and slender.
I ran into the house, got my binocs and the bird was still there…a hint at its identity.  No warbler or chickadee or kinglet or other gleaner would stay still so long.  Through the binocs I could see the bird well and it was looking around, craning its neck, tilting its head.  Hunting–my first Western Wood-pewee of the year.  It is only my second sighting of the species at this location where there are trees but nothing like a forest.  My other sighting was in July.  No picture as I had foolishly left my camera upstairs.  Camera–don’t step outside without it.  A lesson I constantly repeat and then occasionally overlook.
The Pine Persiskins remain–at least four today.  I see a male junco regularly.  He and his mate must be nesting nearby.

Earlier this week I saw my first fledgling robins of the year, speckled and confused by the big world outside the nest.  Also, here are three egg shells I have found recently, the bottom tow are from robins, I believe.  The top one is too large and pale.

At Wennerberg this afternoon the grosbeaks were loud and conspicuous as they chased and pestered one another.

820 NW 19th Street, McMinnville, Yamhill, Oregon, US
May 6, 2020
16 species

Eurasian Collared-Dove  2
Vaux’s Swift  6–seen daily now
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Western Wood-Pewee  1     first of season
Crow    X
California Scrub-Jay  1
Black-capped Chickadee  2
Chestnut-backed Chickadee  1
Bushtit  2
European Starling  10
American Robin  1
House Sparrow  1
Pine Siskin  4
American Goldfinch  2
Dark-eyed Junco  1
Spotted Towhee  2

Wennerberg Park, Carlton, OR, Yamhill, Oregon, US
May 6, 2020
13 species

Mourning Dove  1
Vaux’s Swift  4
Turkey Vulture  1
California Scrub-Jay  1
Barn Swallow  X
Bushtit  2
European Starling  X
American Robin  X
House Finch  1
Lesser Goldfinch  2
Chipping Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  1
Black-headed Grosbeak  3     singing and sparring over territory