Late Summer on the Umpqua

Elkton is located right on the banks of the Umpqua River, and the city has a small park, the Alfred S. Tyson Park, that provides easy access to the river.  Being late in the year, and without rain, it’s easy to walk around on the rocks and in my case look for birds.  This first photo is of a Common Merganser and a Spotted Sandpiper. The Sandpiper invaded the Merganser’s area for just a quick second and I was lucky enough to capture moment.

 

                                                  Killdeer

                                         Great Blue Heron

                                       Red-breasted Sapsucker

                                              Song Sparrow

 

Cooper Creek Reservoir Hike

Kerry & Debby Kliever are two campers we met while volunteering at Collier Memorial State Park this summer.  We were surprised at the time to discover that their home was in our neighboring town of Sutherlin.  We promised to get together when we were both back home, and today that came true.  Check out the Trip Journal in Cascade Ramblings for the rest of the story.

Beware of the Mimic

This is a European Starling that I photographed during my bird walk this morning out to the Elkton Community Education Center. European Starlings are an invasive species that has spread through the United States, and although they have some admirable plumage, they are quite a nuisance. They can make a real mess nesting around homes, and their sheer numbers can pose a problem for farmers. The problem for birders is they make a wide variety of weird sounds, including mimicking other birds.  Which leads me to the scripture lesson for the day: “Beware of those who mimic, they are not to be trusted”. --the Gospel by James. 

White Pine Butterfly

As the weather turns a little drearier, lingering in my den in the morning seems to make more sense, and as I always have more work to do with photos and Cascade Ramblings it all works out just fine.  This morning I’ve added a White Pine Butterfly to the Critters of Cascade Ramblings. It’s one I took while at Collier Memorial State Park this summer.  Interesting enough, the very first Critter of Cascade Ramblings was a butterfly, a California Tortoiseshell, taken on a hike into Marion Lake in April of 2001. There are now a dozen butterflies in Cascade Ramblings and an easy way to see them all is to enter the word “Butterfly” in the search box in the Critters section. This will give you the list of all 12 with a nice thumbnail photo of each butterfly.

Not a Video!

This is a photo of a Fox Sparrow I took this morning during a birding trip we took to Plat I Reservoir near Sutherlin. No, this is not a video, in spite of the fact that the white triangle on the bird’s breast looks a lot like a start button for a video. It is mealy a strange pattern in the breast feathers.

Mr. Wood Duck

Jeanette, Buster, and I went birding this morning with the South Lane Birders at the Row River Nature Park, formerly called the East Regional Park, in Cottage Grove.  It was a good couple of hours of birding, identifying two dozen different species.  The best photo I took was of this male Wood Duck.  The significant thing here is that he is already sporting his bright breeding colors which he will wear until early summer.  Fall is that time of year when I have a tendency to look wistfully back at summer, but Mr. Wood Duck is a guy already looking forward towards the new season.

More Photos!

Step-son Tony Turino continues to make positive changes to the new Cascade Ramblings.  This week he has added the ability to add additional photos to the Critters section.  In the past I was only able to post two photos, now I can post four photos.  For example, the above photo of a juvenile Hairy Woodpecker has now been added to the Hairy Woodpecker page.  Before I could only showcase a male and a female, now I am showing this juvenile plus another juvenile. This is going to be very helpful in enabling me to show different plumages of juvenile/adult, male/female, breeding/non-breeding. Thanks Tony!