Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Acorn Woodpecker female

Acorn Woodpecker male

On this last day of the year of 2022, I have been looking back on the year and other years, at bird trips and blog posts, and it's obvious that birding has become the central focus of my life. Every day, with very few exceptions, I am out counting birds, photographing, and submitting observation lists to eBird.org. Each week I write an article about birds for Looking Ahead, the weekly newsletter for the Dallas Retirement Village. This last week, the final article for the year, featured this pair of Acorn Woodpeckers, photographed here at DRV on December 21st. They are striking birds with an almost clown like appearance. It's been a tough year or more for them.  Their neighboring habitat was destroyed when 99% of the oak trees were removed to make room for a new housing development. I had last seen them on May 19th, 2020, so I was pleased and excited to see them again in our neighborhood. This morning as I write this post, I am thinking and looking back on our world situation, filled with so much turmoil, division and destruction, and yet life still persists. Perhaps it's possible to look ahead and take hope we can find a way to live in harmony and cooperation.     

 

      

 

Winter Birding

Jeanette listening for birds with her iPhone

Winter birding is all about looking for warmth and sunshine.  Yesterday we chose the Oregon Coast, a few degrees warmer, the sun brighter, and the air a little clearer than the Willamette Valley where we live. Specifically, we went to our current standby, the Alder Island Trail in the Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge, just south of Lincoln City.  The leafless trees now make for a baren woods devoid of color but do make the birds a little easier to see.

 

Possibly the best bird of the day, the elusive Hermit Thrush

A first for us at this location, a Common Loon

  

The ever-dependable Great Blue Heron

Here is the link to our complete Observation List.

 

Cold Weather Birding

Jeanette checking a pond on Perrydale Rd.

With the recent continuing cold weather, we have changed-up our birding practice from walking in the freezing outdoors to the comforts of our Winnebago camping van.  We have used it a number of times recently and discovered it is a very comfortable option. We turn on the furnace, have snacks and hot beverages at hand, and a potty for any emergency needs. In addition, the van sits up higher than a car, and the large windshield provides a great view. We are fortunate that we live in Dallas, a rural community, surrounded with miles of country roads to explore. Below are some bird photos taken yesterday from the van while driving along Myers Rd.

Killdeer

American Robin

Wison's Snipe

Red-tailed Hawk

 

 

Return to Toledo

Toledo Waterfront Park and Pavilion

Toledo was not our destination when we left home in the van yesterday morning.  It was cold and foggy in Dallas, and we were looking for warmth and sunshine. Based on the weather forecast we had selected Lincoln City. Our first stop was just north of Lincoln City at Cascade Head Interpretive Wayside on Fraser Rd off of Highway 101, which has a good viewpoint out over the Salmon River Estuary.  Despite bright sunshine it was still a cold 37 degrees. We made a quick bird list and got back in the warm van and drove south through Lincoln City to Siletz Bay and the Alder Island Trail where the temperature was 47 degrees.  Sitting in the van with the sun pouring in the windshield we enjoyed a quick lunch before birding the loop trail. The day was still young, so we decided to extend our birding trip to include a stop in Toledo via the route up the Siletz River. We seem to be drawn back to Toledo again and again, I quess for a variety of reasons. Jeanette and I both have early childhood memories there. We both continue to be drawn to small towns, but in truth we are drawn mainly to Toledo's Waterfront Park along Depot Slough, and as you might have guessed, the birding. The Depot Slough Path meanders through the Marina and the Waterfront Park alongside Depot Slough which serves as a good location for waterfowl year around. Here we seemed to be protected from the cold east wind and the bright sunshine warmed us to the point we almost didn't need our winter coasts. The bird sightings mounted, and the light was just right for photos. 

Hermit Thrush

We identified 17 different species of birds, of which I was able to photograph ten. The Hermit Thrush was the "bird of the day". It is the most elusive of the Thrush Family which in includes, the Varied Thrush, the Swainson's Thrush, and the American Robin.  We were thrilled to get this sighting and photo; it is the first ever for this location of a Hermit Thrush.  They really have earned their name and are quite secretive.  You can see our complete Observation List here.  

  

 

American Bittern at Huddleston Pond

 The American Bittern is an uncommon and secretive bird, able to camouflage itself into the cattails to be almost invisible.  A member of the Heron Family, it is flagged as rare at this location of Huddleston Pond in Yamhill County.  On November 20th, it was reported for the first time ever at Huddleston Pond by well-known birder Paul Sullivan from McMinnville. The next day Nov 21, it was photographed by Susan Kirkbride, the current top birder for Polk County. On Nov. 25th Jeantte and I made it back to Huddleston, after having missed it on the 19th, and failed to find it, and then repeatedly failed for the next four days in a row. Ken Chamberlin, another well-known birder, photographed the bird on December 1st, so we made a determined effort yesterday, Dec. 2nd.  The weather has been on a cold streak lately with freezing temperatures each night, and even some snow and ice. As we took a back road route through Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, the sun came out and our spirits soared.  But as we drove through Sheridan and then Willamina the clouds darkened and dampened our enthusiasm. Arriving at Hampton Park and Huddleston Pond, it seemed a foolish idea.  The temperature had dropped five degrees in the last fifteen minutes, the good light was gone, and a strong wind from the south made for very poor conditions.  We made a pact as we bundled up in the van to walk to the known location at the far end of the pond, for at least a quick check, even though common sense told us it would be futile. Ten minutes later after scanning the cattails, we had our first sighting. I clicked away with the camera, and Jeanette entered a hurried bird list in her iPhone, before we scurried back to the warmth of the van. We have previous counted American Bitterns, on the Oregon Coast, and in the Klamath Basin, but never have we worked so hard for a single sighting.  

Coastal Escape

 We were able to carve three days out of our busy schedule to escape to the Oregon Coast in our camper van. We left on the first dry day, Wednesday November 9th, and returned on the next day of rain, November 11th. Even thought we were desirous of getting away from it all for a few days, Jeanette found herself still involved in solving problems. Here she is shown conducting business with Dallas Retirement Village on her iPhone in the middle of a birdwalk on the Bluebill Trail in the Coos Bay area. It was a good thing, as she was able to put together a replacement instructor for the water aerobics class. The Bluebill Trail is a favorite of ours, you can check it out here.

Freezing weather and icy road conditions favored a driving route down I-5 and over to the coast through Elkton to Reedsport. We made a quick stop to count birds at Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area, and then lunch at Subway in Reedsport.  The next birding stop was at William Tugman State Park for a quick break, and then on to Bluebill Lake where we had a great time birding (list).  Pony Village in North Bend was our final stop for the day with dinner from Taco Bell and an overnight parking spot.

We started our morning at the North Bend Boardwalk to bird, but cold fog and clouds prevented the morning sun from providing any heat, and a sharp wind soon sent us back inside the van. Next was a drive out to the Charleston Boat Basin to check out an e-Birding Hot Spot. Here we found a locked gate, so backtracked to Empire and a stop at John Topits Park to bird the Empire Lakes.  A wonderful asphalt tail system provides a great opportunity for walking, and the lakes gave us a fantastic number of birds. (list).

Wood Duck pair

We spent the remainder of the morning in the van working on bird photos and lunch before morning on to Mingus Park in Coos Bay for afternoon birding (list). 

Eurasian Wigeon male

Rain was forecast for the next morning, so we decided to start driving north up the coast while we still had dry conditions and daylight.  Overnight parking ideas started with the Umpqua Lighthouse, then next to Flornce, then Yachats and eventually ending in the dark at Waldport at our secret and continuing favorite location. Dinner and to bed. In the pre-dawn light, I got to hear and see a big fight as a Western Gull and a Glaucous-winged Gull chased off a Bald Eagle. 

As we continued north up the coast, we continued to by-pass possible birding stops due to cold overcast weather. Finally, we made a birding stop at a big time favorite of ours, Alder Island Trail at Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

Here on the Alder Island Trail, the sun shone through, and we were treated to a good number of active birds. (list)

Downey Woodpecker female

Again, we were grateful for the warmth of the van to spend the rest of our morning.  I worked on photos, and Jeanette worked at reorganizing cupboards.  We enjoyed lunch while watching hikers arrive to walk the trail, only to have to scurry back to their cars when the rain arrived. As we drove home, we had the sense that we had a good trip and were successful at a "reset" to our busy lives. 

  

Return to Livermore Road

American Kestrel with a rodent

Yesterday we returned to one of our winter weather coping methods, birding from the van. Checking back on e-Bird I discovered that since 2019 we have been making trips on Livermore Road to look for birds.  Here is an interesting Blog Post from November 2020.  Livermore Road is located just north of the popular Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge and serves as a connecting road between Bethel Rd. on the north and Smithfield Rd on the South. Using the van, which sits up high and has a very large windshield gives us great views and the opportunity to do our birding in a dry and warm environment. We were motivated yesterday to go to Livermore Road and search for a pair of Sandhill Cranes that were reported the day before.  We zeroed out on finding that rare migrating species but enjoyed an afternoon drive having the road to ourselves which made stopping to look and photograph birds easy. This was the last dry day before the rain got serious.  

Killdeer peeking out of its hiding place

Brewer's Blackbirds were seen in large flocks.

To see our complete e-Bird Observation list for the day click here.