Towheeblog

First three images: Bewick’s Wren; we saw two individuals up close. Next: first year male Common Yellowthroat. Fox Sparrow, two images; this bird’s overall size, large beak, and dark colors indicated it was likely from a breeding area around Kodiak Island in Alaska. Hermit Thrush and open wing. Steller’s Jay. Song Sparrow. Juvie White-crowned Sparrow–all six netted while we were there were first-year birds. Turkey Vulture. Domestic ducks on the nearby river.

Twenty-four birds were netted while we were there at the banding station along the Willamette River. White-crowned Sparrows led as one migratory flock headed into a single net–7. Next were Song Sparrows–6; some variation in plumage so likely not all local birds. Others: Bewick’s Wren 2; Hermit Thrush 1; Swainson’s Thrush 2; Lincoln’s Sparrow 1; Fox Sparrow (my first of the season in Willamette Valley) 2–no Fox Sparrows nest on Pacific Slope nearer than Olympic Peninsula; single Common Yellowthroat. Big surprise, as in largest bird of the day–Steller’s Jay.

At this range and at a banding station, you come face to face with the tiny size of most songbirds. Twenty-eight grams is an ounce (mailed for single first class stamp). Some comparative weights today: Bewick’s Wren 10-11 grams; Hermit Thrush 23; Swainson’s Thrush, around 40 grams; Song Sparrow 22, plus or minus; today’s Steller performer weighed in at 127.4 grams. And that bird definitely does not have to migrate. There was plenty of fruit in evidence: snowberries, blackberries, red-osier dogwood fruit. The white-crowns were out feeding in the weeds and grasses of the open field.

Absolutely insect-of-the-day:

Sep 25, 2022 7:45 AM – 11:00 AM
18 species

Great Blue Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  1
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Belted Kingfisher  X
Northern Flicker  X
American Kestrel  1
Steller’s Jay  5
Black-capped Chickadee  6
Bewick’s Wren  2
Swainson’s Thrush  2
Hermit Thrush  1
American Robin  6
Fox Sparrow  2
White-crowned Sparrow  13     seven banded
Song Sparrow  7     six banded
Lincoln’s Sparrow  1
Spotted Towhee  2
Common Yellowthroat  1

NPR anchor issues homage to earthworms–click here.
Has an “extinct” crop plant been resurrected? Rediscovered? Click here. Siphion.

I am so old I can remember when there was a Colorado River. Click here.
Somebody finally wrote it out. All those news stories you see or hear or, maybe, even read? BS. There is one story–climate. Click here.