I birded Canemah Bluff Natural area in Oregon City this morning.  I intended to stay just an hour but ended up spending three.  Metro acquired this natural area in 1996 and over the past couple of years it has put a lot of effort into restoring the habitat.  I highly recommend a visit to the bluff in the coming months.

The highlight of my visit was the discovery of a pair of Hutton's Vireo building a nest in what turned out to be a convenient location for someone with a camera. 

I stayed on-point and watched the nest building activities for about 40 minutes.  When I returned to the spot a couple of hours later, I was not able to relocate the pair. Which lead me to wonder how much time, energy and effort, do birds typically devote to nest building versus other activities like foraging.     

This was the second-ever, clear and close, observation of this species or me - so I am very excited about the possibility of being able to watch and document a healthy brood successfully fledge from this nesting sight.  

Click here for full sized versions of these an other photos from this visit (then select slideshow)

Mouse-over and click the "A" marker on the map below for directions to the bluff.

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