Thursday's Bird Watch

This is a Great Heron, photographed in nearby Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge on August 29th. Great Egrets are about the same size as our more common Great Blue Heron. In the last several decades the range of the Great Egret has moved north, and they can now be seen year-round here in Western Oregon. They can easily be seen from Coville Road at what is known as The Narrows. This year their numbers are the highest I can remember with as many as two dozen at a time. Of course, early morning is the best time to see the most birds there. 

Honeybees and Sunflowers

This is a great time of year to visit our community gardens at Dallas Retirement Village.  This year in particular we seem to have an outstanding collection of sunflowers. And the honeybees are now busy doing their thing of pollinating the flowers while collecting their nectar. Next will come the flocks of American Goldfinches to feed on the sunflower seeds. 
 

Silver Falls State Park

South Falls

On Tuesday, August 26, Jeanette and I joined the Dallas Retirement Village bus for an outing to Silver Falls State Park. The park is filled with memories for us.  My first visit was 80 years ago to a plumber's picnic. We arrived in my dad's 1940 GMC panel truck. My next visit to the park was seven years later for a week at church camp in the old CCC barracks. Jeanette attended Girl Scouts Camp there in the 50's and then again to work as a camp counselor. In an amazing coincidence, Jeanette and I got married here on May 9th of 1993. 

On this trip, I got to hike down under the South Falls with four of DRV's lovely's, LaVerda Gallager, Jeanette Scott, Ginny Wyman, and Mavis Cloutier.

This shows the complete group just after finishing a delightful lunch, after a fun time of hiking and exploring the South Falls area. Thanks go to Wellness Director Francy Stoyer, Bus Driver Lane Sewell, and their helpers Nat and Robin for a very memorable day.

Thursday's Bird Watch

In order to escape the extreme heat of last week, Jeanette and I traveled to the coast for an overnight trip in our van. The most eye-catching bird that we saw was this Black Oystercatcher, on the rocky cliffs of Boiler Bay State Wayside, just north of Depot Bay.  Black Oystercatcher are one of the easiest birds to identify with their plump black body, long sturdy orange bill, bright red eyes, and bubblegum-pink legs. 
 

Thursday's Bird Watch

This is juvenile White-crowned Sparrow that was photographed here at Dallas Retirement Village last Friday, August 15th. This White-crowned Sparrow is recognizable as a juvenile by the brown crown stripes in place of the adult's strikingly contrasting white and black crown stripes. The nesting season appears to be ending, marked by the absence of the bright singing of the adult males.  On this day of the photograph, a dozen birds were traveling in a mixed flock of adults and juveniles, busy feeding on bugs and seeds in the water collection basin in the South-East corner of DRV.

Happy Birthday Jeanette!

Jeanette got her wish, and gave me a kiss

August 18th is Jeanette's birthday and the plan was that she would get to do whatever she wanted! First thing in the morning her hubby drove her and two of our friends, Dan and Karen Sewell, to the coast for breakfast at the Otis Cafe, where Dan treated us all to breakfast. 

Next, we went birding at one of Jeanette's favorite locations, Alder Island in the Siletz National Wildlife Refuge. We had great fun with all four of us using the Merlin phone app to identify birds by sound. We made an impressive checklist, which you can see here.

In the evening Jeanette's brother Bill Dye joined us, our daughter Lisa Borja, and our sister-in-law Mary Sites, for dinner at The Grill in The Lodge here at Dallas Retirment Village.

The grand finale was birthday cake in our apartment. Bill provided his home-made traditional Dye family chocolate cake. 

 

 

Thursday's Bird Watch

 Saturday morning, while checking the Dallas Osprey nest at the former Willamette Mill Site on Main Street, this Green Heron flew in and stole the show.  It landed high in a Cottonwood tree where my wife, Jeannette, got this photo. Green Herons like to hang out along waterways and ponds.  Although the log pond is longer there at the mill site, remnants of the North Fork of Ash Creek can still be seen in the area.  I think that this probably provides the kind of habitat that the Green Heron likes.  This may also be a clue to where the Osprey get some of their fish. 

Thursday's Bird Watch

This is an exciting time of year to be watching Osprey nests. This pair of juveniles were photographed in the nest at Riverview Park in Independence next to the Independence Hotel. The parents no longer spend time on the nest; they simply drop off fish for the young to eat on their own. The juveniles are growing rapidly and are getting ready to start flying. They can be seen stretching their wings getting ready for the big day they take flight, which is close at hand. In the coming weeks the parents will encourage their young to fly and fish for themselves. It's worth a trip to Independence to have a look.
 

DUMP TRUMP

 Jeanette and I attended a protest today in Dallas. It's been going on every Saturday for six months. It's a protest against Donald Trump and the terrible reign of terror and lawlessness that he has brought down upon our country.  Has our protest accomplished anything? Probably not, but it seems important to stand up and be counted. To say, this is not right to destroy an America that we grew up in that was concerned about the future of the world, that wanted to do something about climate change, that believed in free press, and that believed in truth and honesty. 

Thursday's Bird Watch!

 

Occasionally I am asked here at Dallas Retirement Village, "What kind of doves do we hear here calling all the time". The answer is that they are Eurasian Collared-Doves, a non-native species.  Eurasian Collared-Dove are much more common than our native Mourning Doves, in fact probably by 90%. One reason for their larger numbers is that they able to breed year-around, so it's possible for them to have 6 broods a year.  Also, the Eurasian Collared-Doves do well in urban settings, whereas the Mourning Doves prefer a more natural setting of field and woods.  This photo is of a pair of Eurasian Collared-Dove taken recently atop the roof above the Central Courtyard of The Lodge here at DRV. 
 

Thursday's Bird Watch

The Wild Turkeys are back!!! Saturday morning, Mary Ransier, affectionately known as "front desk Mary", reported seeing Wild Turkeys at Dallas Retirement Village. I got lucky and spotted them in the afternoon.  Ten turkeys in all, the one mother and seven juveniles shown here, plus two juveniles on the other side of the fence.  The deer in the background was accidently in the photo.  These are the first Wild Turkeys of this season. They will be hanging around here at Dallas Retirement Village through the winter until the middle of April when they always disappear to some hidden location to have their babies, and then once again in July a mother will be back with her new brood.

Mark O. Hatfield Park

We went to check-out Dallas' newest city park, Mark O. Hatfield Park this afternoon.  It was just dedicated last Wednesday, and in my research, I found that it was formerly known as Birch Street Park. It's a small park with a lot of playground equipment, so we did not have very high hopes for a birding location.  We were pleasantly surprised, and even with a very short visit we had 10 different species of birds. Here is our bird list. Another surprise is we found a half dozen comfortable and conveniently located benches.  This is definitely a winner, and we will be returning.

 

Thursday's Bird Watch

The busiest place to see birds at Dallas Retirement Village is in the Central Courtyard of The Lodge.  We have had nesting going on of Anna's Hummingbirds, Dark-eyed Juncos, European Starling, Eurasian Collared-doves, Violet-green Swallows, and now, White-crowned Sparrows.  This is by far the most successful year we have ever had, and the most vocal of all these birds is the White-crowned Sparrow, show here.  His high-pitched trill puts a smile on my face daily.  This is actually the first year for them to nest in the Central Courtyard. In past years they have nested in the rose bushes at the East-end of The Lodge around the Jasper Street Entrance.  Take a stroll through the Central Courtyard some time and enjoy the sights and sounds.
 

Thursday's Bird Watch!

 In taking a short bird walk here at Dallas Retirement Village on Sunday June 29th, Jeanett and I noticed some American Crows making a lot of noise.  I have learned over the years that when crows are making a fuss about something it's a good idea to take a closer look at what is going on. That is when we found this Cooper's Hawk seeking sanctuary in a small tree outside the Village Apartments. The American Crows had good reason to be concerned with the Cooper's Hawk because Cooper's Hawks main diet is other birds! The next time you hear some crows making a big commotion, take a closer look, you might be in for a surprise. 

Mt. Fir Park

Jeanette on the path along the South Fork of Ash Creek

On the 4th of July, Jeanette and I ventured out to Mt. Fir Park in Independence for a bird walk. For the previous couple of days, I had been taking short walks without the aid of my walker. Mt Fir Park provided the opportunity to go birding on a path along the creek that had not been practicable to use with my walker. It was great to have a fresh sense of freedom as we worked our way along the path beside the South Fork of Ash Creek.

It seemed to be our lucky day for birds. There were an unusually high number of birds along the creek, and then we realized that they were newly fledged Barn Swallows. The same thing for Violet-green Swallows, Black-capped Chickadees, and Bushtits.  All four had just recently fledged, and the young birds were trying to figure out how to navigate the brushy habitat of the creek. Here is our eBird checklist.

Barn Swallow fledgling 

 

Balcony Birding (2)

From my perch on the balcony yesterday, I photographed this White-crowned Sparrow, presumably a male standing guard in the Central Courtyard, while out of sight in the shrubbery, two females are dragging in grass to build nests. This drama actually started a couple of days ago when Jeanette reported seeing the nest building going on. She assumed one female was visiting two different shrubs.  After a little research, I found that female, White-crowned Sparrows are Polygynous, so I now think our one male has two females building two separate nests. And then, just as I thought I had a nice little story all in one bundle, I took the photo below with a female feeding her young. When I posted the photo with my Checklist to eBird.org, it immediately came back with a notice that the juvenile was not a White-crowned Sparrow, but a Brown-headed Cowbird. What the heck!!

Brown-headed Cowbirds are well known for laying their eggs in other bird's nests, and both Jeanette and I remember seeing a Brown-headed Cowbird in the Central Courtyard this Spring. I looked back in our Checklists, and sure enough I had photographed a Brown-headed Cowbird on the 23rd of May, trying to hide from us in a dogwood tree.  Infact, I think it was this very tree where this Juvenile was seeing being fed. There is no need to travel to far off destinations for birding adventures, there is plenty of drama unfolding right here under my nose in the Central Courtyard of the Dallas Retirement Village.
  

 

Thursday's Bird Watch!

 

This Violet-green Swallow male was photographed on June 10th while he was perched on the rooftop of The Lodge here at Dallas Retirement Village. I love the striking contrast of the bright white underbody and the dark back, wings and head.  We have had Violet-green Swallows here for the past three months, busily swooping around in the air catching insects.  They are common migrants from the tropics that we can depend on seeing every year.  However, this year they have not used either of the special nesting boxes I have for them.  The mystery is, where are they nesting? Mabe hidden in crevices under the eaves? Or, perhaps in neighboring nesting boxes?

UPDATE: No sooner was this sent out to publish in the Dallas Retirement Village newsletter, my wife Jeanette reported seeing Violet-green Swallows feeding young in the bird house on the west end of the garages. photo below ---

 
 

Balcony Birding (1)

This is the view from our balcony, located on the 2nd floor of The Lodge at the Dallas Retirement Village. Since returning home from back surgery at Oregon Health & Science Hospital in Portland, this has become my birding location. It worked out great yesterday morning to sit in my walker and make an eBird Checklist and take some photos. 

A couple of Anna's Hummingbirds seemed to either be defending a territory or engaged in courtship. If courtship it could mean the start of a third round of nesting!

A male, White-crowned Sparrow was busy singing, which I assumed meant he was trying to attract a female. Later I saw two birds coming and going from deep in a shrub. 

Violet-green Swallows were constantly swooping through the air for insects and then feeding them to babies in nests in some dryer vents. 

Look at the Checklist here. 

This completes the report from my perch on the balcony. 

Thursday's Bird Watch

This is an American Kestrel, the smallest member of the fast-flying Falcon Family. Lucky for us, it is by far the most common bird to be seen perched on the power lines along any of our roads in Polk County.  This photo was taken along Smithfield Rd.  Notice her recent catch of a rodent tangling from her right talon.
 

Toledo for The Day

Yesterday, determined to get out of the heat in Dallas for the day, we set our sights on Toledo. Our planned first stop to bird was on the Depot Slough Path at the waterfront in Toledo but arriving there was a good amount of fog and no amount of bird activity. So, our next choice was Paddle Park, located on down Yaquina Bay Rd.  The weather was better, and we were greeted with bird songs galore. We set up our chairs and started counting birds. You can see our eBird Checklist with photos here.

After enjoying lunch and the birds we decided to explore the birding opportunities along the Siletz River. Arriving at the town of Siletz we found their riverfront park, Hee Hee Illahe, a little too busy for our tastes so we traveled on to the next river park, Ojalla Park. 

This park is primarily used for river access, but we were here to check for birds.  In past visits we didn't happen to notice any birds, and worst there was no cell service. On this day we had lots of birds and two bars of cell service!  Again, we made an eBird Checklist. This park will now be a definite return location.

For those who have an interest in more minute information, I presume that "Ojalla" is a different spelling of "Olalla" which is the name of a nearby reservoir, a creek and a slough. According to my research, "Olalla" comes from the word "Olallie" a Chinook jargon word for berries.

 

Thursday's Bird Watch!

The background of the deep red tree foliage contributed to a striking photo of this Anna's Hummingbird.  It was taken from our 2nd floor balcony where I was able to lean against the doorway to hold the camera steady.  Its's been an exceptional spring season for Anna's Hummingbirds in The Lodge Central Courtyard this year with four successful nesting sites.  The flowers as well as the trees have been without question the best we have seen.  It's a great time of year to take a stroll through the courtyard, take a seat on a bench and enjoy the trees, flowers, and bird life.
 

Thursday's Bird Watch!

 For several months a pair of Western bluebirds here at Dallas Retirement Village seemed to fail at getting serious about making a nest and raising babies.  They would become completely consumed at destroying what they presumed were other Western Bluebird, which in reality were merely their own reflection in the rearview mirrors of nearby cars. Finally on Friday, May 23rd, we watched the female enter the nesting box, and the male followed up with food.  We watched him return with food several times, so we think she is probably setting on eggs.  This bird house is located on the chain link fence in the south-west corner of the community garden.  If you are interested in watching their progress, there is a convenient bench outside the fence. 

Hebo Lake

This was a delightful escape for the day to Hebo Lake high in the coast range. A prettier setting is hard to imagine, and the birds were aplenty. Arriving at the lake at about 10:30 we were pleased to find the Handicap Parking space in the Day Use Area right next to the restroom. Next, we took off on a walk around the lake.  This was a challenge to see if I could make the half-mile loop with my continuing lumbar stenosis pain. Turns out there are a number of benches along the trail, which I stopped at to recover and we made it! Back at the Day-Use-Area we selected a picnic table and enjoyed our lunch, even sharing a bit with a Steller's Jay. Here us our eBird Checklist

Day Use parking and camping sites "require a digital reservation and payment on Recreation.gov". However, cell service is so poor at this location it would have been impossible to make a payment, which always puzzle me, as this is the situation at so many National Forest Campgrounds. In this case, the campground host seemed more occupied with mowing the grass than enforcing regulations. 

A Rufous Hummingbird!

It's extremely easy to fall into the trap of thinking that any hummingbird that you see here at Dallas Retirement Village is an Anna's, especially when you consider that we have two nests of Anna's Hummingbirds that are on their second brood for this season, both of which are located here in the Central Courtyard of The Lodge.  Yesterday, on Saturday morning Jeanette and I were sitting on a bench in the Central Courtyard, enjoying a cup of coffee and watching the birds.  We noticed a female hummingbird fly to the top of the closest tree, and even though I have plenty of hummingbird photos, I went ahead and took a couple of photos.  When I looked into the monitor screen, I shocked to notice rufous coloring on the tail! Closer examination on my laptop revealed that it was indeed a female Rufous Hummingbird!

In general, we see Rufous Hummingbirds here on their migration route from wintering grounds in the tropics to summer breeding spots as far north as Alaska. We have observed them here at DRV from the middle of March until the first of May, and then again on their return route from August through the first part of September.  This little lady appears to be bringing up the last of her species for their trip North this year.
 

Two New Hummingbird Nests

It has been a busy Spring for birds here at the Dallas Retirement Village, especially in the Central Courtyard. Eurasian Collared-Doves produced a baby this year. European Starlings are currently feeding young ones. And, most importantly, the Anna's Hummingbirds had two nests, not just one, and both nests had two babies. In mid-April, the juveniles in both nests fledged. Because Anna's Hummingbirds can have more than one brood a year, I have been keeping an eye peeled for a second round of nests. For a couple of weeks, I have noticed a hummingbird going into a certain tree but try as I might I could not find a nest. I finally asked Jeanette to take a look.  She walked right up to the tree and pointed it out. I now know there are two eggs in the nest.  Then resident Carol Combs told us she had discovered a nest in the tree in front of her patio. Low and behold it contained two juveniles as shown in the photo below.  In the photo above, Jeanette is showing resident Ron David the nest at Carol's patio.

These are good sized juveniles, so I imagine they will be fledging soon.

    

 

Thursday's Bird Watch!

This great photo of a Bald Eagle was sent to us from Christine who works the Front Desk at The Club House here in Dallas Retirement Village.  While visiting a friend who lives on Rickreall Creek, Christine noticed the Bald Eagle and her friend took the photo.  Bald Eagles are increasingly becoming a common sight in recent years, particularly along our waterways.  However, the downside is population of Great Herons and Osprey are decreasing.  

 

Riverview Park

 

Del Warren, a friend and fellow resident here at Dallas Retirement Village, explained to us that the birds were very plentiful when he was at the Riverview Park in Independence. We made it a point to stop by yesterday morning and give it a try.  Immediately on getting out of the care we were surrounded by bird songs, so many that our Merlin app had identified 10 species before we left the car.  It's easy to walk the path along the river and Jeanette was kept busy entering in our total species count of 37 on eBird in her iPhone. Here is the link to our eBird Checklist.

The best photo shot of the day was this Osprey male bringing a fish to his female on the nest. Notice the flat look to the front of the fish.  This is because of the normal practice of the male to eat the head off before bringing the fish to the female. This nest site is located next to the Independence Hotel, and it is easy to observe the nest from the Riverview Park parking lot. The exciting thing for birders is that there is a live camera on the nest.  We can watch it on your iPhone, tablet, and TV, but I think for the observation to count on eBird it needs to be in person rather than a screen shot.  We know there are three eggs in the nest, so this scene will be repeated many times in the days to come as the male brings his catch to the female on the nest. 

 

Happy Anniversary to Us

 On this day 32 years ago Jeanette and I got married at Silver Falls State Park. We are celebrating with a trip to the Oregon Coast for the night.  We are camped at Carter Lake Campground with our friend Glenn Pannier, who is the volunteer campground host for this season. We drove over this morning in our van and spent the afternoon birding in the campground with Glenn. Here is our bird list. 

Jeanette and I met through a common interest in bicycling. But soon discovered that we both enjoyed hiking. We added backpacking and cross-country skiing. As we aged, we traveled a lot in RVs. Now the most age-appropriate sport for us is birding. Through all these years what we have enjoyed the most is the time we spend together wherever our interests take us in the great outdoors.

Thursday's Bird Watch!

Eurasian Collard-Doves have made a nest this year at Dallas Retirment Village in the balcony rafters of Diane Wetherbee's 3rd floor Lodge residence.  Last Thursday I got a call from Ann Rolfe about a baby bird on her 2nd floor balcony, which is directly below Diane's place.  The baby turned out to be the juvenile Eurasian Collard-Dove in this photo.  It has also been seen down on the first floor of Del Warren's patio.  So, we know it can fly on its own.  Notice that it does not have the black "collar" on the neck that is so easy for identification of the adults. This is kind of a big deal because this is the first juvenile I have ever seen. It we be interesting to see what happens in the days ahead with this young bird.  
 

Thursday's Bird Watch!

 Recently, several Dallas Retirement Village residents have asked me about a hawk that has been seen in the backyards of the east-side Garden Homes. This photo is I believe what they have been seeing, taken on March 13th, a Cooper's Hawk. They are the most common of a group of hawks known as Accipiters, which prey on other birds. Here at DRV, they seem to prefer the small Pine Siskins which we have hanging around in flocks in the trees between the Garden Homes. In past years we have been able to observe the Cooper's nesting in tall trees in the Dallas City Park, which as "the crow flies", is just a short distance away from DRV. 

Owl Adventure

 For the last two weeks I have been on a quest to photograph an owl here at Dallas Retirement Village. It started with a late-night text from a neighbor. I missed it, but luckily Jeanette heard it and woke me up to explain that the neighbor had just seen a large white owl at her balcony. We rushed down to have a look, and did get a quick glimpse of what we believed were two Barn Owls.  Since 2024, they have been known as American Barn Owls.  After finding pellets we suspected that we had owls but had assumed Great Horned Owls.  We were disappointed that no one was hearing the hoot of the Great Horned Owl. Once we realized that we had Barn Owls, which have a sound more like a clicking or screaming, things fell into place, and early this morning I was finally able to get some photos.  

Easter Escape

Toledo Waterfront Park

Early Sunday morning, Jeanette and I fled Dallas Retirement Village in our camping van to spend the day birding in Toledo. Enroute, we made stops at Ellmaker Wayside State Park, and Chitwood Covered Bridge (see bird list here).

In Toledo, the Port of Toledo Waterfront Park, continues to draw our attention trip after trip. The concrete walkway on the Depot Slough Path is the perfect combinations for birding with a walker. The Osprey nest site provided our third location and viewing of Osprey mating in the last 24 hours. Here is our e-Bird List. 

After lunch in the comfort of the van, and a great phone call with daughter Lisa, we drove on down Yaquina Bay Rd. to Port of Toledo's Paddle Park, where I sat at the dinette and worked on bird lists and photos, and Jeanette roamed the park and docks identifying and counting birds. See her list here.

Hummingbird Wrap-up

In this photo, Jeanette is pointing out to our good friend and fellow resident, Dan Sewell, an Anna's Hummingbird nest. This is the location of the first nest we found this year in the Central Courtyard at the end of February.  We later located a second nest at the other end of the courtyard.  We have kept track of both nests with daily visits.  I also set up my spotting scope in the den, which allowed us to take a close look at this nest site on almost an hourly basis. It's been fun to watch the mother feed the two chicks and watch them grow. This week they finished and fled the nest. Next, we will start watching for a hopeful second round.
 

Thursday's Bird Watch!

In a follow up of last week's article about the arrival of our Violet-green Swallows here at Dallas Retirement Village, with the picture of a male; this week's photo is of a female checking out the nesting box of Mary Clair Site's on her third-floor balcony of the Lodge.  This photo was taken on March 9th.  There were 6 to 8 Violet green Swallows swooping around in the air checking out the area.  Mary's nesting box was used successfully last year.  It will be interesting to see when it is decided which pair will take up residency and build a nest this year. 
 

Thursday's Bird Watch

Our Swallows are Back! They always put a smile on my face as I remember my mother's excitement at the returning swallows to the nesting box that she could see from our kitchen window. It was infectious, and I realize now, it left a lasting imprint on me. This photo is a Violet-green male perched on the third-floor rain gutter of The Lodge.  It was taken on April 1st.  They have arrived from their winter grounds as far away as Mexico. I have been keeping track of my observations here at Dallas Retirment Village through eBird.org for the past five years.  They typically arrive here around the last of March and then leave in the middle of September.  Look for them as they currently are busy swooping around chasing insects and looking for nesting sites.  
 

Thursday's Bird Watch!

Our Anna's Hummingbirds now have babies! This photo of the mother feeding a baby was taken on March 24th in the Lodge Central Courtyard here at Dallas Retirement Village. Acting on a hunch that we might have a second nest, Jeanette and I made an effort to look closer at the other trees in the Courtyard and we found a second nest, and much to our surprise this nest also had a mother feeding a baby.  In fact, both nests appear to have two babies.  I expect the babies will remain in the nest, being fed by the mothers until around the 15th of April.