Tillamook County Re-connect

 The luxurious living we experience at the Dallas Retirement Village has presented us with a strange predicament.  We get so involved in all the extracurricular activities that our calendar fills up.  Add to that all the medical appointments necessary to keep pace with age related problems, and the bottom line is that we don't seem to have the time to enjoy getting away in our camper van. We finally found a hole in our calendar of a few days and were determined to seek out some adventure. Weather made the coast our best choice, and because we usually travel south along the central Oregon Coast, this trip we decided to explore north in the Tillamook area.  I was surprised when we started adding bird observations, that this was the first time this year that we had been in Tillamook County, and the year is now half over! Below are some of the highlights.

Our first stop on Tuesday was at a fishing access point along the Little Nestucca River.  Our first birding visit here was in December of 2020. We were impressed, and sure we would return often, and yet this was our next visit. 

The trail along the river was filled with all kinds of bird sights and song.  A good example was this Common Yellowthroat male on his way to the nest with a larva for his babies. (Bird List)

Our next major stop was at the Clay Myers State Natural Area along Sand Lake. An unusual sighting here was this Great Blue Heron high overhead in a Spruce tree.(Bird List)  We last did this trail in Oct of 2021.

Our choice for camping our first night was at the Blue Heron Cheese Company in Tillamook.  It's a curtesy extended to travelers, and perhaps the best free overnight parking available in Tillamook County, where the county has instigated a $10 daily parking fee or $55 yearly fee at most recreational parking areas.

 

Our first stop of Wednesday morning was the Tillamook Hospital Hole Trail.  This juvenile Common Raven begging to be fed was one of the interesting sights. Interesting this same behavior was going on yesterday at our stop on the Little Nestucca. (Bird List)  Our last visit here was July 2022.

The Cedar Wetlands Preserve at Rockaway was our next major stop.  A small parking lot, but a outstanding board walk through lush vegetation, capped with a visit to the giant Western Cedar tree.

A pair of nesting Osprey here was the biggest surprise given there is no open water at the preserve.  (Bird List) Our last visit here was Jan 2021 

Our second night's parking was back at the Blue Heron French Cheese Company where the highlight was meeting two new friends with the exact red Winnibago Solis Pocket van that we have. However, they have lived and traveled in theirs full time for the past 15 months.

On Thursday, our first stop on our return route home was at Sitka Sedge State Natural Area. Unknown to us the gate does not open until 8:00AM. Luckily, we arrived at 8:10. Unfortunately, fog was the dominate weather, making bird photos almost impossible. Tiger Lily was the best I could do. (Bird List)  Our last visit here was April 2022

Traveling on south, the sun won out over the fog, making a stop at Bob Straub State Park a perfect place to park for lunch and cell service to get caught up with bird list submissions. 

A pair of White Pelicans caught my eye as we were parked. A rare sighting here at Pacific City, in fact the first ever report here, compared to the commonly seen Brown Pelican. (Bird List)  Our last visit here was April 2022

Our little get-away adventure was a great success.  In all we submitted e-Bird Observations for 12 different locations in Tillamook County with a total of 68 different species during our three-day visit. 

 

Thursday's Bird Watch

 Hummingbirds continue to make the headlines of the birding world here at Dallas Retirement Village.  This bright colored male Anna's Hummingbird appeared at the juice feeder on our balcony last Saturday.  We were delighted to see a male, because we have only been seeing females recently, and in fact very few of them.  Hummingbirds have been extremely scarce this Spring, and almost daily I get asked what has happened? I don't really know.  I can only guess that it has to do with poor weather conditions or disease.  Whatever the reason, it has made each and every sighting of a hummingbird extra special.

Thursday's Bird Watch

 Thanks to Dallas Retirement Village resident David Fletcher's gardening skills and hard work, hummingbirds have an abundant flower environment in which to harvest their nectar. This female Anna's Hummingbird is shown here in the flower beds at the Red Bistro Patio with her bill deep into a flower. This photo was taken on June 15th.

Paradise Close at Hand

 I've often said that for me, birding is as much about place as it is about birds.  Today's birding trip to the Dallas City Park proves the point.  For example, I'd skip going to a water treatment plant in favor of a city park. (Dallas City Park is less than two blocks away)

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Green Heron

Black-tailed Deer

Western Tiger Swallowtail

Fireweed

 

Thursday's Bird Watch

 This is an Osprey family, the mother on the left, feeding her baby, while the father on the right stands guard.  This was at the Osprey nest site on Murlark Ave. in the industrial area of West Salem.  It's been a hard Spring on Osprey this year.  Heavy late snow fall in Northern California delayed their arrival to our area, and with our wet Spring, many nest sites have failed, so we were ecstatic to be able to document a success story when this photo was taken last week on June 10th.

Thursday's Bird Watch

Now is the perfect time to visit the Delbert Hunter Arboretum adjacent to out Dallas City Park. The reason is that the fruit of the Indian Plum, also known as Osoberry, is just ripening and the American Robins and Cedar Waxwings are feeding on the cherry shaped fruit like crazy.  Notice the fruit in the mouth of this American Robin I photographed on Saturday, June 3rd while sitting on a park bench in the Arboretum.  Plan your visit soon, as the birds will devour the fruit in the next couple of weeks.
 

Merlin Bird Identification

 The Merlin app for your cell phone is the most important tool for bird watchers since the invention of binoculars! The app, which is free, is able to identify a bird by description, photo, or sound. Identification by description is a little hit and miss because it depends on your ability to provide an accurate description.  Photo ID is very accurate, but it requires that you are able to provide a bird photo. Sound ID is by far the easiest to use and gives you an instant reward, a bird identification without any requirement of bird knowledge. 

My wife, Jeanette, and I lead bird walks here at Dallas Retirement Village where we live. DRV provides a bus and driver for us to take residents out to local parks twice a week every other week. Using the Merlin app has really caught on this year, and we now have 100% participation by the birders. I wish you could see the smile on their faces as a bird identification flashes on their cell phone screen.  You don't have to be a bird expert to identify the bird that you hear singing its heart out high in a nearby tree, our hidden in some thick bushes. 

Of course, you need to use some caution.  For example, if you are in a location where there is no cell reception, I have found because the phone has no idea where you are, you can get a species that is in truth not found in the general area. But the majority of the time Merlin will provide an accurate identification. The best advice is to use Merlin as a notification tool, tipping you off to search closer for a visual confirmation.  It is a great teaching tool. We have discovered as time goes on; we have begun to recognize the bird sound ourselves, and sometimes even before Merlin.

New Birding Method

 This afternoon we experimented with a new method for birding, sitting on a park bench! We did this here in Dallas at the nearby Delbert Hunter Arboretum.  I have heard others explain this method as effective because it allows birds to come to them. Whereas walking alerts the birds and they stay hidden.  But to be perfectly honest, our real reason for sitting on the bench has more to do with the growing anomalies of old age. Growing is a poor word, I should say, it's more like a freight train roaring down the tracks out of control.  But regardless, sitting on the bench and enjoying the lush beauty of the arboretum and the sweet songs of several species of birds was a pleasant experience. One puzzlement was a single continuing note that we did not recognize, nor did the bird identification app of Merlin recognize. After way too much time of puzzlement and confusion we realized it was the squeaking of the park bench. Observation List

Thursday's Bird Watch

 This is a photo of a Chipping Sparrow I took on May 17th at nearby Buell County Park. Chipping Sparrows can easily be overlooked, or perhaps miss-identified as an immature White-crowner Sparrow.  But their bright red crown and sharply contrasting white eyebrow should be a clue that this is something different, and it is also smaller than any of the other sparrows.  In fact, it is the same size as a Black-capped Chickadee.  Most interesting about this finding at Buell County Park, is the fact that is the third year in a row that we have identified a Chipping Sparrow at this exact location, and I mean within a few feet, but this was the first time it's been photographed. Chipping Sparrows are migratory birds, spending their winters in Mexico, and their summers up here.  Next week's Bus Birding Trips for the Village Birders on the 6th and the 8th will be to Buell County Park and finding this bird will be our main target.