Two Fledgling Northern Goshawk - Deschutes County
July 16, 2016
Our five-year search for a NORTHERN GOSHAWK nest came to a successful conclusion today! I know it has been five years since we began the search because we came onto the birding scene in central Oregon just after the loss of the famous Goshawk nest at Calliope Crossing, near Sisters Oregon in 2011. This is a link to a news story about the loss of th...
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Spotted Sandpiper Chick - Metolius River
July 15, 2016
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We learned a lot about Spotted Sandpipers as a result of our chance encounter with an adult caring for a chick on a small island in the middle of the Metolius River. The Spotted Sandpiper is a well studied species, and is among a small minority of birds that have reversed sex roles. Males tend to have higher levels than females of prolactin, a pitu...
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Ryan Meadow aka Ryan Ranch Wetlands
July 14, 2016
I stumbled upon this area by way of an eBird report of a Cray Catbird. I missed the Catbird but came away with a new place to watch birds and otherwise enjoy nature in central Oregon. The former meadow was used in 1975 to film the movie Rooster Cogburn, starring John Wayne and Catherine Hepburn - credentials attesting to the raw beauty of the place...
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Father's Day Eagles
June 19, 2016
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We visited a farm today on the lower Tualatin River where Bald Eagles have fledged on or very close to Father's Day for nearly a decade. Two years ago their nest tree was blown down and we worried they would not rebuild in the area because the sister ponderosa pine tree that survived the windstorm didn't look like it could hold something that size.
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Lars' Kingfisher
June 12, 2016
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I didn't pick the best day to look for the Belted Kingfisher nest near Buxton, Oregon that was reported by Lars Norgren on June 10th. The Banks-to-Vernonia Trail was packed with bikers, hikers, walkers, dogs, and horseback riders yesterday. Many people stopped to ask what I was watching as I was (trying) to hide behind a makeshift blind fashioned f...
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Hopkins Demonstration Forest - Common Raven Nest
June 05, 2016
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I went to the Hopkins Demonstration Forest today to escape the heat and to see if I could get eyes on the Swainson's Thrush, a bird best known for its distinctive song but rarely seen for more than a split second at a time. I was surprised to get great looks at several of them for what seemed like minutes, and even more surprised to find a recently...
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Trout Creek Recreational Area
May 30, 2016
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The Trout Creek Recreational Area in central Oregon is perhaps best known for its enormous basalt columns which make it Oregon's premier destination for pure crack climbs, and less so for the GOLDEN EAGLES that nest there. We decided to see the place for ourselves this year after we read the Bureau of Land Management reduced the size of the seasona...
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Uncommon looks at a family of a common species - Killdeer
May 21, 2016
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We enjoyed watching the interaction between a pair of adult Killdeer and their fledglings today, and I had to laugh out loud when it became clear who was in charge of keeping the kids warm - needless to say, it wasn't either of the parents. The chicks take matters into their own hands when the time comes to escape the elements. We hope you enjoy th...
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TRNWR - Chat and Other Surprises
May 08, 2016
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I birded the west end of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge this morning. The best birds were a pair of YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, two pair of BLUE-WINGED TEAL, and an unexpected encounter with a couple of Peacocks.
I turned the corner to walk up the observation platform and unexpectedly came face-to-face with the female Peacock be...
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Barred Owls - Tryon Creek State Park 2016
May 04, 2016
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If you like up-close, personal encounters with owls and their chicks, then the perennial Barred Owl Nest located in a high-traffic area of Tryon Creek State Park is a must see. The chicks often end up on or near one of the trails that intersect below the nest - and if there are a lot of people and dogs in the area at the time, the otherwise quiet s...
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A Moment Worth Sharing
April 11, 2016
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Every once in a while you witness something that is worth immediately sharing with others regardless of the (plan) to include the event as part of a larger experience you would write about later.
I spent an extravagant amount of time today monitoring one of three owl nests that I began watching earlier this year in an attempt to ward off the winte...
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Coachella Valley Preserve - Thousand Palms Oasis
March 12, 2016
I enjoyed our visits to the Coachella Valley Preserve but struggled with the idea of writing about birds we found in the area because (frankly) the number of species a person will likely to encounter on any selected date will be a small fraction of the 118 species listed in the eBird database for this location. Having said that, it's is a great pla...
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San Jacinto Wildlife Area - Riverside County, California
March 06, 2016
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The more things change, the more they stay the same. My goal while visiting California is to avoid making big (boneheaded) birding mistakes. So, of course, that is exactly what I did as soon as I arrived at the San Jacinto Wildlife refuge on the morning of March 4th. According to my first edition, Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North Americ...
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The First Christmas Bird Count for Reedsport Oregon
January 02, 2016
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Reedsport hosted its first CBC during (this) the 116th running of the Christmas Bird Count.
For a full account of this event please see Matthew Hunter's blog Umpqua Birds
Most people don't realize the scope of this annual effort to locate, identify, and count birds. Last season, 72,653 volunteers tallied a total of 68,753,007 birds across 2,462 c...
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Birding Tillamook or Was it Patagonia - November 2015
November 29, 2015
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We birded the Tillamook area the last two weekends in a row under clear skies and very little wind. The unbelievably good conditions made it fun to chase all of the uncommon birds that are being found there this year. It seemed like every report of an uncommon bird lead to another report of equally uncommon bird as birders parachuted into the area...
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