a Special Occasion
November 14, 2015
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"In my view, a "good bird" is one that even a resident birder would get excited about finding...a species that one might expect to encounter only once or twice every few years of active birding." Irons, David. "Birding News | #birdingnews via @aba." Birding News | #birdingnews via @aba. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2015.
By that standard, I am comforta...
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When will this happen again?
October 25, 2015
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Common Ground-Dove, Mountain Chickadee(s), & Brown Booby. All on the Oregon Coast at the same time, and in the same general vicinity!
This is a story about a series of coincidences that made for a special day of birding on the Oregon Coast.
The first was when Stefan Schlick appeared out of thin-air shortly after sunrise in a community park in the...
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All for Knot
October 16, 2015
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I chased the Red Knot observed by many at Wickiup Reservoir on October 14 & 15, 2015 in central Oregon.
It wasn't very long after I arrived in the area on the morning of October 16th that I was pleasantly surprised to find a small flock of dowitcher flying into my view finder as I attempted to capture an image of the moment. I hoped the wayward Re...
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Bonney Butte Hawk Watch 19 Sep 2015
September 21, 2015
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Get there while the getting is good!
The number of observations is going up daily, and they are not expected to peak for another week or two.
The personnel on site are awesome. They are very helpful, knowledgeable, and all have crazy-good eyes. An example of their exceptional vision was demonstrated by Tom who called a Peregrine Falcon at a range...
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Black Butte Ranch 5 Sep 2015
September 05, 2015
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I enjoyed great views of a variety of birds this morning at Black Butte Ranch. Among them were a dozen or more WESTERN TANAGER, swarms of PINE SISKIN, LESSER GOLDFINCH, a WILLOW FLYCATCHER, and a seemingly imperturbable juvenile COOPER'S HAWK who's arrival spooked every other bird in the area. 17 Images
WESTERN TANAGER:
Question: How do you eat a...
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Broughton Beach 22 Aug 2015
August 22, 2015
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I visited Broughton Beach this afternoon among throngs of beachgoers, romping dogs, and tent-campers. Thankfully, a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird caught my attention, and then I was birding not just walking. Close encounters with Horned Lark and Western Sandpiper foraging up in the riprap nicely rounded-out my visit.
Eight images:
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Birding on and around Black Butte Ranch August 2015
August 09, 2015
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A family vacation last week at Black Butte Ranch provided me with the opportunity to get out several mornings to bird many of my favorite spots in the area plus find a few new ones on the west slope of the central cascades. The best birds of this trip include, SOOTY GROUSE with young, two RED-SHOULDERED HAWK dueling with AMERICAN KESTREL over Black...
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Lost Lake 1 Aug 2015
August 01, 2015
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I went to Lost Lake this morning to cool off and to look for peeps and (hopefully) a few interesting warblers. I wasn't disappointed on either front. It was a delightful 45 degrees when I arrived just after 0600 and I immediately found 5 LEAST SANDPIPER, and a dozen immature SPOTTED SANDPIPER. They were foraging together in small flocks of 3-5 bird...
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Banding Bluebirds
July 26, 2015
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Today I had the privilege of watching volunteers from the Prescott Bluebird Recovery Project band a pair of 10-day-old Western Bluebirds on private property in Clackamas County with a couple of friends, one of whom owns the property and successfully maintains several nest boxes.
I learned the prerequisites of becoming a bander include steady hands...
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Gotter Prairie Natural Area
July 12, 2015
I birded another one of Metro's natural areas this weekend. This time it was Gotter Prairie in Scholls. According to their website, "[t]he more than 120 acres that used to be the Gotter farm are being transformed from agriculture to rare oak savanna and wet prairie, along with forested wetlands and riparian areas."
The inhospitable conditions that...
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Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge 3 July 2015
July 03, 2015
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The River 'S' Unit of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge produced stunning numbers of Virginia Rail this morning; seven adults and nine chicks all feeding out in the open. Low water levels throughout the area must be the culprit. The other surprise was three Wilson's Snipe engaged in audibly-spectacular flight displays over the north western e...
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Coffee Lake Wetlands
June 14, 2015
I like to check the flora and avifauna of the Coffee Lake Wetlands natural area in Wilsonville from time to time. My first meaningful (in-field) effort was last January where I birded the western half of the area and found Wilson's Snipe abundant. The water at that time was too high to bird anywhere else in the wetland and I looked forward to being...
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On The Right Trail
June 07, 2015
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I was up before O dark thirty this morning looking forward to a good day birding at elevation in the cascades but ran into a gate across (the) road that serves an area I've been waiting to check for several months. That was bad news for me. It meant an entire day's effort was just scrapped. The good news was a small sign tacked to the trunk of a ne...
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Yellow-headed Blackbird - TRNWR June 2015
June 06, 2015
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The Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge ("TRNWR") served up a nice surprise yesterday, a persistently agreeable YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. It was chased away several times by Red-winged Blackbirds and Crows but always returned to the same area where it would take refuge in a small shrub before resuming its foraging activities. A couple days earli...
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Western Screech Owl
May 31, 2015
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As they say in golf, I'd rather be lucky than good. And that was exactly what we were when we stumbled upon the Western Screech Owl peering out of its roost/nest cavity. There is a very small spot on the trail from where the owl is visible - had we not stopped precisely where we did yesterday to look at a Black-throated Gray Warbler that was foragi...
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