Towheeblog

With two companions I spent over two hours around the Riverfront Park Bald Eagle nest. The eagles themselves were not near the nest though one red-tail was. They circled once, one landed back behind the trees, there was a soar by. But there were a couple of “birds of interest.”
First surprise, a Green Heron hunting right along the Willamette Slough’s western waterline. Later we watched a hunting kingfisher.

Second, there was a Spotted Sandpiper on the gravel bar just south of the footbridge to Minto-Brown Island. Other finds included a pair of Hooded Mergansers, and the male kingfisher who seems to be a regular. There were also flights of cormorants, all headed south. Perhaps toward some evening roosting spot?
Photos by John Matthews.

GARDEN BIRDS: Bushtits at suet; young Golden-crowned Sparrow; black-topped Lesser Goldfinch male and American cousin; Pine Siskin next to several goldfinches–our first siskin this year.

Last fall and early winter our garden was loaded withn siskins. On January 17, 2022, I recorded multiple siskins for the last time–click here. In November of 2021 I had counted dozens of siskins in our garden, by late winter one or none, then in spring there was a renewed siskin surge–with the last multiple siskin day in early May. By June siskins had all vanished from our garden…until today. The fall of 2022 brought none through our garden, complete reversal of previous autumn.

PG&E threatens eagle nest; eagles’ friends victorious.

Do insects have feelings? Don’t step on that ant. Click here.

Salem Riverfront Park, Marion, Oregon, US
Feb 6, 2023
19 species

Canada Goose  4
Mallard  30
Green-winged Teal  20
Hooded Merganser  2
Pied-billed Grebe  3
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  1
Killdeer  3
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Glaucous-winged Gull  9
Double-crested Cormorant  20
Green Heron  1
Bald Eagle  2
Red-tailed Hawk  3
Belted Kingfisher  1
American Crow  3
European Starling  X
American Robin  X
Song Sparrow  1
Red-winged Blackbird  X

954 Ratcliff Drive SE, Marion, Oregon, US
Feb 6, 2023
14 species

Mourning Dove  X
Northern Flicker  1
California Scrub-Jay  X
American Crow  X
Black-capped Chickadee  X
Bushtit  20
Red-breasted Nuthatch  1
Varied Thrush  2
Pine Siskin  1     first this year
Lesser Goldfinch  X
American Goldfinch  X
Fox Sparrow  1
Dark-eyed Junco  40
Golden-crowned Sparrow  1

MALHEUR BIRDING

MALHEUR BIRDING TRIP IN MAY
I am leading a fund-raising bird trip sponsored by, and based at, the Malheur Field Station. It is May 15-20. We will see Ferruginous and Swainson’s Hawks, Prairie Falcon, Golden Eagles, White Pelicans, Short-eared and Great Horned and Burrowing Owls, Loggerheasd Shrike, Sage Thrasher, Sandhill Cranes, Black Terns, Franklin’s Gulls, White-faced Ibis, Rock & Canyon Wren, Sagebrush and Brewer’s Sparrow, Cinnamon Teal, snipe, Wilson’s Phalarope, possible bittern. There are likely to be usual (Lewis’s Woodpecker, Evening Grosbeak) and unusual (any bird that migrates to northern Canada) migrants at the hotspots. We will bird the basin and foothills of Steens Mountain.
Interested? Call 541-493-2629.

PHOTO TRIP: this trip is already filled.  It’s May 31-June 4

SEPTEMBER

I am leading a fund-raising bird trip sponsored by, and based at, the Malheur Field Station. It is Sept. 8-13.   We will see Ferruginous and Swainson’s Hawks, Prairie Falcon, Golden Eagles, White Pelicans, Short-eared and Great Horned and Burrowing Owls, Sandhill Cranes, Black Terns, Franklin’s Gulls, Loggerheasd Shrike, Sage Thrasher White-faced Ibis, Rock & Canyon Wren, Horned Lark, Cinnamon Teal, snipe, Wilson’s Phalarope, possible bittern. There are likely to be usual (Lewis’s Woodpecker, Evening Grosbeak) and unusual (any bird that migrates to northern Canada) migrants at the hotspots. We will bird the basin and the entire Steens Mountain Loop.
Interested? Call 541-493-2629.