Despite the mosquito in the car yesterday, it felt like winter at Minto-Brown. Less than 40 degrees, wet, gray skies, flickers outstanding in their field (the one north of the entrance road between first parking lot and dog park).
Yesterday the Duck Pond was Gadwall Pond–sixteen, whcih is pretty big number for these ducks that rarely form big flocks around here. In the limb-choked slough east of the entry parking lot there was a beautifully plumaged pair Wood Ducks practicing seclusion back behind layers of branches.
In our garden today the finches and siskins were after as many calories as they could get. The dozens of juncos are always the first up, even before sunrise and dawn’s light. Mostly they feed on sunflower seeds spread across the ground.
Minto-Brown Island Park, Marion, Oregon, US
Dec 9, 2021
11 species
Wood Duck 2
Gadwall 16
Great Blue Heron 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Northern Flicker 7
American Kestrel 1
California Scrub-Jay 2
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Golden-crowned Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 4
Spotted Towhee 2
Click here to read my recent piece on birds in cold weather, written for “Salem Reporter”.
Towheeblog 
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