Towheeblog

At Clark Creek Park here in Salem this morning the most numerous birds were juncos. I saw overhead a Cooper’s Hawk which I don’t think the juncos even noticed. The bird was very high in the sky, evidently migrating. It was late morning and the slanting sunlight enlarged the white feather puffs on the the underside of the bird’s tail, those wintertime foot warmers of every accipiter.

In our garden there was a single Audubon’s Warbler. Last week a Chestnut-backed Chickadee came into our garden and checked out a possible nest hole in one of our cherry trees. Haven’t seen the bird return. The Black-capped are seen in our garden almost daily. I saw both species in Clark Creek Park this morning tough the habitat there seems more suited to B-Cs. The large trees are mostly cottonwood and walnut though there are a few conifers and many more near the park perimeter.