Mother's Day Outing

Daughter Lisa brought hers boys down for an outing this afternoon.  We selected Jackson-Frazier Wetland for a hike/bird walk as the boardwalk loop there assures you of staying out of the mud.  Everything about the plan worked great except for the weather.  We were accosted by rain showers much of the time we on the loop, arriving back at the car entirely drenched.  But, we had a good time spotting, identifying, and counting birds. The oldest grandson Will proved to have the sharpest eyes, and best memory.  In all we counted 32 birds of 9 different species.

Bunny Rabbits

We don’t actually spend all of our time looking at birds; we also spent some of our time watching the bunny rabbits here at our RV site.  Jeanette took this photo this morning looking through the front windshield of our Holiday Rambler. These rabbits, actually know as Eastern Cottontails, come out daily from the briar patch next to us to nibble on our green grass.  It’s OK with me, because what they don’t eat I have to mow. However they drive Buster crazy.  

Spotted Sandpipers

Last night we noticed someone birding down at the pond around dusk.  When she walked up past our motor home I stepped out to talk with her and discovered she is a fellow eBird member, Gail Andrews.  She was quite happy to report that she had seen a Spotted Sandpiper.  I was surprised because I had only been seeing Killdeer.  So, this afternoon I went down and made a concentrated effort and low and behold I saw four Spotted Sandpipers fly in at once. These are tiny birds and I took this photo so I could get a better look and didn’t realize until I had downloaded to the computer that I had actually gotten two birds in this picture.  One of my field guides says that they are seen singularly, so I am feeling very fortunate to have seen four at the same time.

Resupply Rendezvous

My brother Mark and his wife Holly who are hiking the Pacific Crest Trail this summer have taken a week off to attend their oldest son’s college graduation in Salem.  They rendezvoused with us today in our motor home to hand over 12 resupply boxes that Jeanette will ship to various scheduled resupply points over time as the weeks and months go by. They will be in cell phone contact with us in case the time schedule changes. We will get another 10 boxes from them on Saturday.  Going to be a full motor home for a while, but at least we will have lots to eat if there’s a big disaster.  

Beaver Creek Natural Area

Yesterday we made deliveries of volunteer support materials for Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to the Oregon Hatchery Research Center deep in the coast range west of Alsea and the Newport Field Office in Newport.  In between deliveries we stopped for a quick visit at the Beaver Creek State Natural Area located south of Newport.  This is one of Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation’s newest developments and is going to offer outstanding birding opportunities. We were quick to notice there is a volunteer host site there. We’re always “looking for cheese” for those that are acquainted with the story.

Overnight Guests

Yesterday afternoon after getting back to Adair Village Buster and I took a walk around Adair Pond which lies just below our RV site.  We spotted this lovely pair of Bufflehead Ducks.  When I got back to the motorhome I checked in my favorite bird guide for this area, “Birds of the Willamette Valley Region” and learned that Buffleheads usually leave the region by May.  This morning the ducks appear to be gone, I guess they were aware of their migratory schedule and are headed on north for the summer.

Enjoying the Sun

Sun at last!  We stopped in Eugene at Delta Ponds to bird on our way back to Adair Village today.  People were out walking and biking, the birds were out, but it was the turtles that caught our attention.  They were out in mass on every log. I took this photo of this family of Western Pond Turtles whom seemed the most organized in their effort to soak up the sun. I've read that turtles need the heat from the sun to be able to digest their food.

Editorial Note:  I originally mistakenly assumed these where Western Pond Turtles.  I now believe they are Red-Eared Sliders, a very competitive non-native species.