Towheeblog

Three birders visiting from Florida and I hit Baskett Slough shortly after dawn this morning. In less than four hours we toted up 40 species and then headed for some shade. Shorebirds included one each: Least Sandpiper, Wilson’s Phalarope (male), Greater Yellowlegs. One pair of Green-winged Teal in Morgan Lake. At the Smithfield X Livermore Roads parking lot a chat called out, then flew past us twice. BH Grosbeals there were in voice and invisible.

In the marsh south of Coville Road the expanse of mudflat is now greater than the area covered by water. Beside that marsh we met met a bird photographer who’d been watchig one Great Blue Heron for two hours. She said the big bird had swallowed at least a half-dozen fish while she watched. We saw one Killdeer there that was clearly immature.

The small pond north of the The Narrows still has enough water to attract teal and Mallards. We saw at least a dozen cowbirds. Some of the swallows were young of the year. At Morgan Lake there were numerous ducklings and goslings.

The jlast image shows the only Yellow=heaxded Blackbird I saw and that was, sadly, before I met up with my Floridians so they missed it. The goose-egret shot shows some ofthe extensive dry mudflat that mosts years would be lake bed.

Baskett Slough NWR, Polk, Oregon, US
Jun 23, 2021
41 species

Canada Goose  30
Cinnamon Teal  X
Mallard  X
Green-winged Teal  2
Ring-necked Pheasant  X
Pied-billed Grebe  X
Eurasian Collared-Dove  X
Mourning Dove  X
Anna’s Hummingbird  1
American Coot  X
Killdeer  15
Least Sandpiper  1
Wilson’s Phalarope  1
Greater Yellowlegs  1
Great Blue Heron  12
Great Egret  7
Turkey Vulture  X
Northern Harrier  2
Bald Eagle  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Northern Flicker 1
American Kestrel  5
California Scrub-Jay  1
American Crow  8
Tree Swallow  X
Violet-green Swallow  X
Barn Swallow  X
Marsh Wren  X
European Starling  X
American Robin  X
American Goldfinch  X
Song Sparrow  X
Spotted Towhee  X
Yellow-breasted Chat  X     singing near parking lot at Livermore & Smithfield Roads
Yellow-headed Blackbird  1     seen on wire along Coville Road at 615AM
Western Meadowlark  X
Red-winged Blackbird  X
Brown-headed Cowbird  X
Brewer’s Blackbird  X
Yellow Warbler  X     heard not seen
Black-headed Grosbeak  X     heard not seen