Subfreezing temperatures and icy conditions at the Dallas Retirement Village made staying inside the prudent choice this morning. In fact Jeanette started counting birds right from the bedroom. Three Anna's Humming birds at the juice feeder on our balcony, a Yellow-rumped Warbler at the suet feeder in the court yard, and a Dark-eyed Junco on the ground looking for droppings. The warmth and comfort of our apartment makes for an easy place to bird.
With a full day of sunshine in the weather forecast, we chose to spend the main part of our day birding despite the temperature continuing to hang in the 30's. The plan was to visit the Luckiamute State Natural Area south unit. It was still cold and the birds were extremely quite at 11:00, but we struck out walking. We spotted several Red-tailed Hawks, which is expected. They out number all other hawks, and possibly all other hawks combined. So, when you see a large raptor soaring, or perched on a power pole or in a tree, your first reaction is to assume that it is a Red-tail. When we spotted this bird in the tree, Jeanette asked "what kind of hawk is that with such a small tail?" I explained to her that Red-tails have short tails as I snapped a photo. When we got home and I downloaded the photos into my laptop I realized to my own pleasure that I was wrong, and after checking some bird guides came to the conclusion it was a Rough-legged Hawk. An additional interesting fact is that our only other sighting of a Rough-legged Hawk at this location was January 14, 2014. Click here to see that image.
We finished our walk with a feeling of success. You can see our checklist here.
We watch the weather like a hawk, so to speak. We look for the dry times of day, and the warmest locations on a daily basis, sometimes even checking hourly, and then make plans accordingly.
For many years we traveled south to Arizona to hide out from the cold and rain of the Northwest, but in our declining years we find traveling that much distance too stressful, and opt to stay home here in the Willamette Valley. But, the dark and dreary days of winter, especially in this time of the Pandemic, can be quite depressing. So, our remedy is at minimum, to look for the "sweet spot" of the day, when the rain has let up or the sun is shining to at least get in a walk. If there is a big enough window and a big temperature difference we head to the Oregon Coast for the day. To our good fortune, where we live now in Dallas, we are less than an hour away from the coast and some excellent birding locations. So, check the weather, and plan your escape.
I looked back last night in Cascade Ramblings, and noticed that for the past 10 years I have always put up a blog post on the first of January. Many years we were in Arizona, volunteering in Arizona State Parks along the Colorado River This year we are in Oregon for the second winter in a row, and are now living in the Dallas Retirement Village, where birding continues to occupy a big part of our life. And, like most days, we started the day with a bird walk. Below are featured the birds I photographed this first day of 2021 here at Dallas Retirement Village.
