Birds and Books

 

Dallas Retirement Village Residents Earl and Gwen Kimball are two of our favorite residents. They often report on hummingbird activity, or lack of activity, that they have at their feeder located on their patio. They recently reported enjoying a lot of activity at their juice feeder but were puzzled as to where the hummingbirds went when they left.

Yesterday we had a brief window of sunshine in an otherwise rainy day, and Jeanette and I got out the door to get in a quick bird walk.  One of our areas to check out was the Kimball's residence. Jeanette was pretty sure she knew the location where we could find the hummingbird.  Sure enough we found and were able to photograph this male Anna's Hummingbird (shown below) in a tree just across the alleyway. 

Jeanette gave Gwen a quick call and Qwen and Earl came out on their patio while we pointed out the location of the hummingbird. We explained how Anna's Hummingbird males are very territorial, so in all probability they will be able to continue to see it in that exact tree.   Earl went back inside and brought out his vintage bird guide and marked the species identification. I have to confess, I may have been more impressed with Earl's beautiful, aged bird guide than I was with the hummingbird. Birds and books are two of my favorite things. 

         

Thursday's Bird Watch

 Last week on a cold and overcast day we went looking for birds around Dallas Retirement Village.  It seemed bird less except for a few California Scrub-Jays, and a flock of European Starlings.  And then, we discovered this Anna's Hummingbird that seemed to be hiding in David Fletcher's garden plot. If you look closely, you will notice her little feet are not grabbing onto a perch.  She is suspended by her wings as she hovers above the Salvia and Lavender flowers.  This certainly brightened up our day!

Places We Love to Bird - Lyons Park

Last month on Oct 25th we visited Lyons City Park, an old favorite of ours that we have birded at for over 10 years. I posted a blog about it here, and then we were there again last week on Nov 8th. Here is our bird list for that trip.  It occurred to me this park should be put in our category of "Places We Love to Bird", so here is the blog to make it official. This is the 8th place I have now bestowed this honor. To see the complete list of Places We Love to Bird, simple use the search window in the upper left-hand corner and put in "Places We Love". 

Bordering Lyons City Park to the north is the John Neal Linn County Park, which has a campground, but it is only seasonal. In addition, there are trails and ponds which seamlessly connect with Lyons City Park. When we originally started birding at Lyons City Park, we were not aware they were separate parks, and we just sort of lumped them together. Technically, eBird lists them separately, and we now make separate lists each time we are at the correct location. Here is our bird list for this last trip.
 

Thursday's Bird Watch

It's always a red-letter day when we get to see the Red-breasted Sapsucker in the weeping cypress tree on Tilgner Ave. here in Dallas Retirement Village.  I took this photo on October 28th. It was busy getting sap out of the sap wells it had drilled in the tree.  If you look closely there is a drop of sap hanging off the tip of its bill.  What I wasn't able to capture with my camera was an Anna's Humming bird which was darting back and forth getting sap from the many sap wells as well. 
 

First Swans of the Season

Jeanette photographing swans

Rainy days have forced us to do our birding from the van. It's warm and dry inside the van.  You sit up much higher than in the car, making it easier to spot birds.  And if I'm honest, I don't have to walk, which is still a problem for me due to back pain.

Yesterday morning, we choose to visit Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge in hopes of finding some swans that Jeanette had spotted flying at a distance two days ago. Tundra Swans had been reported to eBird last week at Parvipes Marsh.  Most of the Refuge is closed off for breeding birds from Oct 1 through March 31, so you can't really hike there to get a look at them.   You can, however, get a distant view of Parvipes Marsh from Smithfield Road. This was our plan, and the photo at the top shows Jeanette doing her best to get a photo from that great distance.  

Below is one of the photos showing 6 of the 26 swans she was able to count. Notice the tall swan on the right, which presents a dilemma for us.  Could it be a Trumpeter Swan?  The trouble is that no one has reported a Trumpeter this season this far South yet. The smaller Tundra Swans arrive here from the North earlier than the Trumpeters.  The closest Trumpeters that have been spotted so far this year are at Ridgefield NWR in Washington. Do we get bold, and risk being corrected?     

 

Thursday's Bird Watch

I photographed this Anna's Hummingbird female at our balcony juice feeder last week from my office window.  Several of our residents have excitedly reported to have hummingbirds back at their feeders. This after a summer of hummingbirds not being around. So where were they? I honestly don't know for sure.  Perhaps they were dispersed throughout a larger area taking advantage of all the summer flowers available.  No need to hang around juice feeders.  Or maybe they sort of left the area because of all the construction of the roof replacement on the Apartment building and the siding on the Lodge building.  Now with construction over, and the flowers of summer finished, they are back and interested in our feeders.  Whatever the reasons, I know we are all happy to have them back at our feeders.  And that reminds me it's important to continue feeding through the upcoming winter months.  Anna's Hummingbirds were originally limited to California, but their range has extended north, due to the appeal of year around gardens and feeders.  Now they are year around residents, and dependent on our help for subsistence.    
 

Lyons City Park

Yesterday we drove to Lyons Oregon to an old favorite birding site of ours, Lyons City Park.  We discovered this park in December of 2013.  Despite bitter cold weather and snow, we enjoyed our experience and knew we would be back, in fact I checked, and we have been back 34 times! The park is made up of abandoned log ponds. On this day we were completely surprised to discover major upgrades.  Now there is a paved and striped parking lot, a new restroom, and cement walkways. 

We had driven in fog from Dallas, thru Salem and up the Santiam Canyon to arrive in bright sunshine and brilliant fall colors. I couldn't get my gear together and out the door of the van faster enough. We started a quick bird list for Lyons City Park and walked down the path to the third pond which crosses over to the ponds of the John Neal Memorial Park. 

We started a new bird list here for John Neal Park and walked on.  John Neal Park and campground are closed for the winter, but you can walk through it on foot. We choose a shorter path because of my continuing back pain. Returning to the van, we enjoyed a lunch of hot tomato soup and tuna fish and crackers, while listening to the high-pitched calls of the American Widgeon on the pond. It would be impossible to have had any more fun.