Our McMinnville Spring Birding Class had our first morning in the field today. It was chilly but no rain or wind at Joe Dancer Park. We worked the wetlands end of the park, the playing fields being bare.
We had migrants. One Cooper’s hawk was circling over 100 feet in the air, most likely ready to move north. He certainly wasn’t hunting up there. His swollen winter white feather tufts were obvious–meant for foot insulation at night. We saw three Turkey Vultures wobbling across the sky. About 815AM I saw my first TV kettle of ’22–five birds over the riverside forest along the Willamette in north Polk County.
Other highlights:
Pair of male Anna’s Hummers sparring in the air over the marsh.
Small flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers in the willows.
Nearly our first birds–pair of Western Bluebirds near north end of parking lot.
Trio of flickers loudly going through courtship competition high in a Doug-fir.
Singing robins and Purple Finch and wren and nuthatch.
Among hiding sparrows in the willows–a White-throated Sparrow just east of the wetlands sign.
Do you think the male bluebird thought this might a nest box?
One of the tiny combatants:
Two pair of Common Mergansers in pond along WEBFOOT Road:
Joe Dancer Park, Yamhill, Oregon, US
Mar 19, 2022. 20 species
Anna’s Hummingbird 2
Turkey Vulture 3
Cooper’s Hawk 1 in migration
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Northern Flicker 3 calling and drumming
California Scrub-Jay 2
American Crow X
Bushtit 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1 calling
Bewick’s Wren 1 singing
European Starling X
Western Bluebird 2 near north end of parking lot by wetlands
American Robin 8
Purple Finch 1 singing
Lesser Goldfinch 10
Golden-crowned Sparrow X
White-throated Sparrow 1 western edge of wetlands thicket near wetlands sign
Spotted Towhee 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler 6
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