Towheeblog

Busy birds, busy days. Just keep looking. Yesterday I saw a Sharp-shinned Hawk pass over our house, likely migrant. This neighborhood is not their breeding habitat. It is a first for me at this location.
Meanwhile, at Fairview Wetlands this morning I saw pintail for the first time. And, unusually, two RC Kinglets sharing a small, mostly bare tree in the marsh. I can only assume they arrived overnight and had not time to claim singular territories so hunger overcame possession.

In our garden the jays respond instantly to peanuts being thrown on the driveway. The lone Steller’s comes quickly, grabs and dedpare5s before the bigger scrubs can get at him. The crows often hesitate until the nuts are gone. They’ll learn, speed pays.

As the dog and I returned from a walk at Fairview Wetlands, we pulled into the drive next to a suet feeder. Bushtits gathered. They ignored us to concentrate on their mid-day meal.

AT THE WETLANDS: pintails, one kinglet

FEEDER FRENZY

954 Ratcliff Drive SE, Marion, Oregon, US
Oct 22, 2020
10 species
Sharp-shinned Hawk  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Northern Flicker  1
California Scrub-Jay  3
American Crow  6
Black-capped Chickadee  2
Bewick’s Wren  1
European Starling  X
American Goldfinch  20
Dark-eyed Junco  2

954 Ratcliff Drive SE, Marion, Oregon, US
Oct 23, 2020
16 species

Cackling Goose  30     fly over
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  1
Steller’s Jay  1
California Scrub-Jay  3
American Crow  6
Black-capped Chickadee  2
Bushtit  25
Bewick’s Wren  1
European Starling  X
American Robin  1
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  30
Dark-eyed Junco  2
Song Sparrow  1
Spotted Towhee  1

Fairview Wetlands, Marion, Oregon, US
Oct 23, 2020
15 species
Cackling Goose  25–FLY OVER, other waterfowl in the marsh
Canada Goose  11
Mallard  16
Northern Pintail  2
Green-winged Teal  2
American Kestrel  1
California Scrub-Jay  1
American Crow  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  2
European Starling  X
Cedar Waxwing  6
American Goldfinch  1
White-crowned Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  2
Red-winged Blackbird  1