Northern Goshhawk

Today we had a lot of things going on, so we squeezed in a short mid-morning walk for Buster and to make a quick bird list.  For convenience we went to nearby Wallace Marine Park.  Our normal route for walking around the ball fields looked a little congested so we elected to take a different route next to the river that we could make into a short loop.  Midway through the loop we spotted a large bird fly into a tight mix of cottonwood and big-leaf maple trees.  Looking with our binoculars we thought it was an immature Cooper's Hawk, it was for sure too big to be a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Just to be on the safe side I quickly took some photos so that I could get a closer look. When I got home and down loaded the photos into my laptop, I started to check some birding guides to confirm that our bird was a Cooper's Hawk, to my great surprise I began to realize we had a juvenile Northern Goshawk.  Neither Jeanette nor I had ever seen a Northern Goshawk before, so a new bird for Cascade Ramblings and a new Life Bird!  Further research revealed that this species is normally found in the high Cascades, and when seen here in the valley, it is usually in winter.  I'm guessing with the all the wildfires and smoke problems in the Cascades that it has fled here to the valley for better conditions.  Goshawks are bigger than a Cooper's Hawk or a Red-tailed Hawk, in fact they are only surpassed in size in the hawk group by Golden and Bald Eagles.  This fits with our first impression of a big bird.  Here is our eBird checklist.

Where Has The Time Gone.....

Tomorrow is the last day of August! Where has the time gone?  I noticed yesterday that I had written only one blog this month, and for the last two months I have only posted three per month.  What has happened?  This is from a blogger who, for example, did 20 posts for the month of August in 2010. It could be blamed on aging, my brain is now past three quarters of a century old. But the other reality is I am busier posting to Facebook and eBird than I was in 2010. I had joined Facebook in 2008, but I'm sure I didn't post much.  Now, in addition to my own FB page, I manage two other additional pages, Salem Audubon Nature Reserve, and Salemtowne Birders.  I didn't join eBird until 2011 and and at that time I probably tried to put up a bird list once a week.  Now I post to eBird at least once every day, and also try to add to the new feature of photos.  Bottom line I'm spending a lot of my time on other media in place of my blog.

This photo is of a lone juvenile at the Salem Audubon Nature Reserve. I saw it today take a practice loop to a tree,  abort a poor attempt at landing on a limb, and have to circle back to the nest. This is the last juvenile of three to leave this season's nest, and I was struck by where has the time gone.  It has been a fascinating year to watch the Osprey, from the arrival of the parents this spring, their courtship and nest building, the birth of the chicks, the effort of the mom and the dad to feed and protect them, and now only one juvenile is left, and it too will soon be heading south.  Where has the time gone?  Well it rolls on day by day, month after month, season upon season and year after year.

Osprey Fledglings Being Fed

It's easy to notice in this photo an Osprey bringing a fish to the nest, but there are many layers to the story of what is actually going on here.  The photo was taken today at Wallace Marine Park during a standard route we take that circles the soft-ball complex.  When we first started we spotted a juvenile sitting on a light pole, and then found another juvenile on the nest which is built on top of a large cluster of lights. We noticed an Osprey fly in and possibly leave a fish in the nest.  This happened a second time as we cicled the playing fields, and the bird on the nest seemed to be eating the fish.  As we were about to complete our circle,  some crying from the juveniles allerted us to a possible feeding coming up.  The juvenile off of the nest flew to the nest, and then a third Osprey which had been sitting on a nearby power pole flew to the nest at which time I got this photo.  This is the dad with the fish, and it appeared that he waited on purpose until both juveniles were on the nest to bring in the fish.  The juveniles have fledged and are able to fly, but dad at this point is still bringing them fish to eat. Hunting for their own fish is the next skill they will have to learn in the next few weeks before taking off for probably Central America for the winter.

Butterfly Mass Migration

Why traveling to Bend this weekend for the Scott Family Reunion, I noticed bugs starting to smack on my freshly cleaned windshield.  I soon realized that there was an unusually high number of bugs, and as I glanced to the right and left, I noticed that they were orange colored butterflies.  My first guess and fear was that they were Monarchs.  I pulled off Highway 22 at the Cold Springs Snow-Park to park and see if I could get a photo.  It turned out to be a little more difficult than I imagined, even though there were hundreds if not thousands, because they were in constant flight. I was relieved they weren't Monarchs, but was not sure what they were.  Later that evening, after looking through a couple of phone apps, I determined that they were California Tortoiseshells. Ironically, the California Tortoiseshell is the first Critter entered into Cascade Rambling years ago. The next day one of the family members pointed out the dead butterflies in the grill of my motor home. 

Observing Western Bluebirds

Earlier this month I received a report of nesting Western Bluebirds along the first fairway of the golf course here in Salemtowne were we live.  I took an exploring trip on July 7th and found the nesting box and took some photos of the male and female busy with their obligations of feeding and removing fecal sacks. Today, July 20th, while on a morning birdwalk I discovered a juvenile feeding on insects along the 8th fairway, proving that we have successful fledglings.  Up until this year I am not aware of any nesting bluebirds here in Salemtowne.  In general Western Bluebirds  are not expected to be seen in urban areas, but are said to prefer rural areas with large fields, so this is all very exciting to me.

 male

female

male removing fecal sack

juvenile

Sharing Sitka Sedge State Natural Area

Friends Judy & Gary Disnsmore mentioned the other day that they would like to see Sitka Sedge.  We share intrests with them of birding, RVing, and bicycling.  We originally met them while I was leading bird walks at Lake Havasu State Park in Arizona during the winter of 2012-2013.  We have stayed some-what in touch, and as they are currently volunteering at Fort Yamhill State Park, it's easier to meet up.  We agreed to meet them at Neskowin on Sunday evening where we had dinner together at The Beach Club Bistro and parked for the night at Neskowin Beach State Recreation Site. On Monday morning after breakfast we traveled to Sitka Sedge for a morning of bird watching.

Sitka Sedge Trail

Great Blue Heron

Greater Yellowlegs with a fish

Long-billed Dowitchers

Although we came to see the birds we also enjoyed other wildlife like this handsome buck.

 and this young one.

To finish up our morning of birding we had an impromptu lunch at nearby Clay Myers State Natural Area.  Great freinds, great bird walk, & great lunch. You might notice that another thing we have in common is that we both drive Mercedes-Benz vans! 

Exploring Sitka Sedge

Hot temperatures of over 100 degrees has driven us to the coast for a few days to escape the heat. We made a stop this morning to learn more about Sitka Sedge State Natural Area, located North of Pacific City. We hiked a beginning portion of the trail, but the morning heat was building fast with a high forcast in the 90s, so it was a short one.  But it's a winner and I'm sure we will be returning many more times on cooler days.

The parking lot has yet to be developed.

A nice gravel path runs out through the wet lands.

Great Blue Heron

Swallowtail Butterfly