Towheeblog

In Salem today I saw a single female Townsend’s Warbler in two different locations about a mile apart. One was amidst a gleaning flock along Pringle Creek at the west edge of Deepwoods Garden. The other was in our garden in southeast Salem. Both were abroad in winter sunlight–its rarity and brightess made the colorful green and yellow face markings seem to vibrate with intensity.

Also at Deepwoods was an Anna’s Hummer helicoptering up and down the trunk of an ancient white oak–I presume looking for spiders or spider’s eggs in the crevices.

Bewick’s Wren hunting in the leaf litter on the path:

DEEPWOODS GALLERY:

Some more CBC scouting and the shallow gravel ponds east of 37th Avenue SE were rewarding as always–dowitchers and lots of dabblers, and I didn’t even try to scope the marshy area for hiding snipe or other birds not being obvious. There I saw my first meadowlark of the month.

In the park near our home we found the disembowelled shell of a flicker–clearly the victim of an accipiter.

Maybe tomorrow a picture of a Townsend’s…

Deepwood Museum & Gardens, Marion, Oregon, US
Dec 2, 2020. 13 species

Anna’s Hummingbird  1
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  1
California Scrub-Jay  1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee  1
Bushtit  20
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  3
Bewick’s Wren  1
American Robin  1
Dark-eyed Junco  2
Song Sparrow  3
Spotted Towhee  1
Townsend’s Warbler  1

954 Ratcliff Drive SE, Marion, Oregon, US
Dec 2, 2020
14 species

Mallard  2
Northern Flicker  1
California Scrub-Jay  X
American Crow  X
Black-capped Chickadee  2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
Bewick’s Wren  1
Bushtit 20
European Starling  2
Pine Siskin  80
Lesser Goldfinch  1
Dark-eyed Junco  20
Spotted Towhee  1
Townsend’s Warbler  1

SALEM CBC AREA #1, Marion, Oregon, US
Dec 2, 2020. 25 species

Cackling Goose  X
Canada Goose  X
Northern Shoveler  X
Mallard  X
Northern Pintail  X
Green-winged Teal  X
Ring-necked Duck  X
Lesser Scaup  X
Bufflehead  X
Ruddy Duck  X
Western Grebe  1
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  X
American Coot  X
Long-billed Dowitcher  40
Ring-billed Gull  X
California Gull  X
Glaucous-winged Gull  X
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Red-tailed Hawk  X
Northern Flicker  X
California Scrub-Jay  X
American Crow  X
European Starling  X
Western Meadowlark  1
Brewer’s Blackbird  X