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.