Thursday's Bird Watch

This male Anna's Hummingbird was photographed Saturday at the juice feeder on our 2nd floor balcony in the Lodge Courtyard here at Dallas Retirement Village.  His brilliant display appeared to be part of a territorial dispute that continued to go on most of the afternoon as a couple of males and one female vied for dominance of the feeder.  It seemed more vicious than the normal food dispute, and then I remembered that the breeding season is close at hand. Nesting starts for hummingbirds as early as February, so there may be more importance to this tussle than just food.
 

Thursday's Bird Watch

This is a Merlin.  They love to perch at the very top of trees, and at that distance can be easily dismissed as just another European Starling or American Crow, I know because it has happened to me a couple of times recently, so its's important to take a closer look as this is an entirely different bird. These fierce little hunters are members of the Falcon Family, and journey South to us from Canada and Alaska for the winter.  This guy was perched atop a fir tree next to the Garden Home of Vern and Ann Beeson.  The Beeson's take the award as the best yard here in the Dallas Retirement Village for bird feeders.  This Merlin seems to have figured this out and is waiting patiently for his next victim.
 

Thursday's Bird Watch

 Long-billed Dowitcher

This is a Long-billed Dowitcher. You may think this looks similar to the Long-billed Curlew featured two weeks ago, and it is in that it belongs to the same Family of birds, called Sandpipers, but the Long-billed Dowitchers are much smaller, in fact, half the size of the Long-billed Curlew.  The Village Birders from Dallas Retirement Village found several of these Long-billed Dowitchers at near-by Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge during an afternoon Bus Birding Tour last month.  They are common birds here at Basket Slough, and can be seen almost year around along the water's edge of the ponds on either side of Coville Rd.  

Thursday's Bird Watch

Red-breasted Sapsucker

On Monday of last week Joyce Rosenburg reported to me that she had seen the Red-breasted Sapsucker here in Dallas Retirement Village in the Weeping Cypress tree on Tilgner Ave.  It was exciting because she and possibly a few others of us know that Sapsuckers are infrequent visitors to DRV. However, this particular tree is the one they always favor. I went in search of it the next morning and was rewarded with finding not one but two Sapsuckers! By the amount of calling going on, I am guessing that they are a mated pair. You can see their handiwork in this photo, the numerous holes that have been drilled through the bark over the years to be able to reach the sap.  Also interested in the sap on this Tuesday morning was an Anna's Hummingbird, flittering around in hopes of sneaking in for a few slurps of sap.  

 

Thursday's Bird Watch

Long-billed Curlew

Two weeks ago, Jeanette and I went to the Oregon Coast in search of a rare bird sighting at Waldport, this Long-billed Curlew.  It is the largest of birds in the Sandpiper Family at 24" in length, and with its extremely long 8-inch curved bill it was an easy bird to spot along the beach of Alsea Bay.  In Oregon, Lon billed Curlews spend their summer breeding season on the east side of the state, where their long bill is used successfully to pluck out insects deep in the tall grass.  In winter they head for warmer locations in California and Mexico.  The three Curlews we found in Waldport evidently think the Oregon Coast is warm enough, and probably more convenient than flying to California or Mexico.   

 

Thursday's Bird Watch

Pine Siskin

Here are two Pine Siskins photographed at Dallas Retirement Village on November 7th.  Because of their dull coloring and striped breasts, they are often mistaken for female House Finches, which are also the same size, however Pine Siskins have tiny, pointed beaks. They can currently be seen in large groups in the leafless trees here at DRV.  Just last week we counted a total of 68 birds in two adjoining trees.  They will also mob seed feeders occupied with House Finches and Goldfinches.  During the summer they are scattered, busy with nesting, but in winter they seem to enjoy hanging out in large busy groups. 

 

Thursday's Bird Watch

 Four years ago this month, Jeanette and I signed the paperwork with Sales and Marketing Director Tawnya Turner to move to Dallas Retirement Village. A few days later we made a return visit to get a little more acquainted with DRV.  We roamed the hallways, checked out all the entrances, and elevators, and imagined placement of furniture in our unit. Afterwards we had a picnic at the Pavilion. It was a warm sunny day, and of course I couldn't help noticing the birds.  This Golden-crowned Kinglet caught my eye, and I got a quick photo.  We immediately considered this a good omen for out anticipated new home. These beautifully colored small birds are primarily winter migrants in the Dallas area, normally seen from October through April.  Ironically, we have yet to see another Golden-crowned Kinglet here at DRV since this one in November of 2019.

Thursday's Bird Watch

Last Sunday, my wife and I went in search of a reported rare bird sighting, a Ross's Goose on the Oregon Coast at Otis.  They are a species that nest in the far Artic North, and their migration route South to winter in the Sacramento Valley of California normally travels the South-East corner of Oregon.  Somewhere in route this poor soul veered off course, probably with a flock of Canada Geese, and ended up in a field in Otis.  We drove over to Otis in the early morning fog, hoping to beat the forecasted incoming rain.  Arriving at Otis, we turned right onto Old Highway 101, and there in a field on the left was our bird, a single all white goose, mixed in with hundreds of other gray and black Canada Geese.  One quick photo while sitting in the car provided this photographic evidence.
 

Thursday's Bird Watch

 Dallas Retirement Village residents, Vern and Ann Beeson, reported to me to me this last week that they were seeing lots of Dark-eyed Juncos in their Garden Home yard.  I tend to think of Dark-eyed Juncos as winter birds as only a few are usually seen here during the summer.  The majority of them leave to seek the coolness of higher elevations to nest and raise their young. But, at this time of year their numbers swell here in the Willamette Valley as they return to our milder climate for winter.  Look for them on the ground and in the shrubbery as they scurry around looking for bugs and seeds to eat.  This Dark-eyed Junco was photographed here at DRV on October 22nd.  

Thursday's Bird Watch

Welcome back Red-breasted Sapsuckers! This Sapsucker, plus two others were seen here in the Dallas Retirement Village in front of the Health Care Center last week on Sunday afternoon October 15th.  We were excited because they have not been seen here at DRV in a year and a half since April of 2022.  Sapsuckers belong to the Woodpecker Family and are unique in that they drill a series of holes through the bark of trees to be able to harvest the sap.  They return to these "sap wells" again and again to drink the sap.  The Sapsuckers' recurrence that day remains a mystery.  We have not seen them again in the following days. We checked each of the six trees they visited and could not find any sap holes.  Perhaps the three birds we only passing through that day.  We can only hope they will make a return visit; they are such striking birds.    
 

Thursday's Bird Watch

 Adjacent to the Dallas City Park is the Hunter Arboretum Botanic Garden. Because of its abundance of native plants, shrubs and trees, it is actually a more productive area to find birds than the busy Dallas City Park.  The Arboretum is where I found and photographed this Acorn Woodpecker recently. Notice that it has an oak acorn in its bill.  Fall is all about harvest time, for the birds as well as humans. The birds, particularly the woodpeckers and jays, are busy hiding away nuts to eat later this winter. 

Thursday's Bird Watch

Early in the morning this past Saturday, I found a Great Blue Heron wading carefully along the quiet banks of Rickreall Creek in the Dallas City Park.  I imagine it was looking for prey, possibly for a fish or a crawdad.  Dallas City Park is only a block away from Dallas Retirement Village, and yet at times, because of the abundance of wildlife, birds, squirrels, and deer, it seems like another world.  We are so fortunate to have this amazing resource so close by.  I highly recommend it for a place to walk, or simply sit on a bench and enjoy. 
 

Thursday's Bird Watch

This female Anna's Hummingbird has her bill deep into a Salvia blossom to get some nectar.  This was photographed last Thursday at Dallas Retirement Village in the flower beds of the Red Bistro patio maintained by resident Davis Fletcher.

Given a choice, hummingbirds seem to prefer flower nectar over sugar water at our juice feeders, and nectar is probably better for them.

Originally, Anna's Hummingbirds were found no further north than San Francisco, but in the last several decades they have moved north and now are year around residents here in Oregon, and much further north.  Which means that in winter when the flowers are gone, they do depend on juice feeders, so it's important for us to provide the feeders then. 
 

Huddleston Pond

 This week's destination for the Village Birders of Dallas Retirement Village is Huddleston Pond in Willamina. A favorite of Jeanette's and mine, we have been birding here for the past ten years. Today, October 3rd, marked our 81st trip.  It's a former log pond of Hampton Lumper Company, who donated the area to the City of Willamina for a park. Our group today enjoyed bright sunshine and a few early arriving waterfowl. The most unusual bird we found was a Red-necked Grebe as shown below.  Red-necked Grebes are most commonly seen along our coastline, and it took some time for me to come up with the identification particularly because it was in the non-breeding plumage. Here is the link to our eBird Observation List.

  

Thursday's Bird Watch

The easiest birds to spot for the Village Birders of the Dallas Retirement Village on last week's Bus Birding Trips to the Salem Riverfront Park were the Great Blue Herons. Their large size and patience to stand perfectly still for long periods of time make them easy targets for observation and photographing.  They are common year-around residents here in the Willamette Valley and can be spotted in the shallow water of our rivers and streams seeking out fish and frogs, and also in the open fields waiting for voles and field mice.  
 

Morgan Lake

Friends and fellow Dallas Retirement Village residents, Ron and Dot David, accompanied Jeanette and I on this early morning bird walk to Morgan Lake at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge. September 30th is the end of the open season for this access trail from Smithfield Road, with winter closure until April 1st, so its import to visit this week if you want a chance to see the incoming waterfowl. 
 

American Pipits, a winter migrant, were digging deep into the muck of the recently drained reservoir of Morgan Lake for mollusks and crustaceans. I believe it's a normal practice to drain the lake be able to flood the lower elevation ponds in the refuge.

  

American Crows were busy taking advantage of the exposed lakebed to capture food, in this case tiny frogs.

Ron reviews the Merlin app on his smart phone for bird sound identifications, while Jeanette enters the identifications into the eBird Checklist.

Salem Riverfront Park

 The Village Birders from Dallas Retirement Village took their Bus Birding Trip on Tuesday to the Salem Riverfront Park to get in a walk and look for birds.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous for our morning excursion.  Even a Red-Eared Slider Turtle had crawled out on a log to soak up some sun.

Here is our eBird Checklist

 

 

Another Secret of Toledo

 The last two weeks have been jam packed with all kinds of doctor appointments and family events, and the upcoming week looks to be equally full. Monday was wide open, and we made a quick decision to break away for a day-trip to the coast for a kind of reset. Once again, Toledo was on our radar, with a loop through Newport and up the coast to Lincoln City and back home. Our first stop was at East Slope Park in Toledo for a bird walk along Olalla Slough.  (Checklist).

Next, was a stop to bird the Depot Slough Path along the Toledo waterfront, a continuing favorite. A surprise here was the Port of Toledo is dredging out the channel. The dock, and all the boats have all been moved out to make room for the dredging operation. Despite the major interruptions to the area, we still found a fair number of birds. (Checklist)

And here is the "secret", which I question my sanity somewhat to reveal, except that I know a good number of people, particularly family and friends that love to canoe, kayak, and paddle board, that would appreciate knowing about Paddle Park. The Port of Toledo has built a number of parks, among them is Paddle Park. Check on this link. This looks to be a wonderful location, but at this point, under used, to launch your watercraft, or just enjoy a picnic, and of course, look for birds. 

A quick bird check added to the inventory of birds to be seen here (Checklist)

 

From Paddle Park we continued on along scenic Yaquina Bay Road to Newport, and then up the coastline, stopping at Boiler Bay State Park with a great ocean-view for our lunch stop. (Checklist)

After lunch it was on to the Alder Island Trail at Siletz National Wildlife Refuge for our last birding stop of the day. (Checklist) 

We were back home to Dallas Retirement Village in late afternoon in time for dinner in the Timber Grill.

Thursday's Bird Watch

Turkeys are the one bird everyone seems to know, and no one needs help making an identification.  Lots of people have been reporting to me recently that they have seen them here at Dallas Retirement Village, and yet, I never seem to be at the right place at the right time to see them myself.  I am indebted to Mary Ransier at the Front Desk for today's Turkey photograph, taken in the Village on 9/7/23.  Thank you, Mary.
 

Brown's Ferry Park

We met Jeanette's sister, Patty, and her husband, Kordell, today for a birdwalk and picnic at Brown's Ferry Park. I had never been there before, but it is the number two ebird Hotspot in the top 100 Hotspots of Clackamas County with over 150 species of birds identified. Located on the Tualatin River, less than a half of a mile East of busy Interstate 5, it was "hidden right under our nose". We were fortunate to find the parking almost empty when we arrived, and the sun was just beginning to warm up the day. Birds were somewhat scarce as is typical of this time of year.  In end we had a list of 29 bird species, with the most activity at the pond. It's a place I am looking forward to for return trips in different seasons. 

Best bird of the day was this Sora. It was also the first time anyone has reported a Sora at this location. Our picnic plans were thwarted by mean yellow jackets, so we opted to have lunch at The Brix South at the Tualatin Commons with a lovely view of the lake. 

Thursday's Bird Watch

Adjacent to the nearby Dallas City Park is the Delbert Hunter Arboretum and Botanic Garden, which is a wonderful place to take a walk and enjoy the many trees, plants, and scrubs.  Scattered throughout the arboretum are a number of benches that are perfect for stopping to sit for a spell, catch your breath, and watch for birds.  This is exactly what we did on this past Sunday afternoon, and we were rewarded with this Red-breasted Sapsucker that flew in to work on its project of drilling holes for sap. 
 

Thursday's Bird Watch

 BABY BIRDS UPDATE - I took this photo last Wednesday on August 16th of the baby Western Bluebirds in the nesting box at The Pavilion her in Dallas Retirement Village.  It's a real guessing game to decide how many babies are in this photo. When I took the original photo of the eggs on July 21, there were clearly only 4 eggs.  Looking at this photo, I count somewhere between 4 to 6 babies.  Look closely and let me know your count.  they are growing rapidly and will probably be out of the nest this week. 

The Hunted and the Hunter

 Yesterday morning while walking back to the car after birding at Moffitti Marsh in Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, we noticed an unusual number of small birds darting in and out of the hedgerow of blackberry bushes along the fence row. They were out of sight until suddenly they popped up and flew to the next bush only to immediately disappear deep into the bushes. It was hard to make an identification let alone get a photo.  Eventually I did get a few photos and we were able to identify House Finches, House Sparrows, and White-crowned Sparrows. But we were still mystified at their hiding behavior, and then we discovered their reason for hiding, an intense looking Cooper's Hawk.

Here is our eBird Observation List.

Thursday's Bird Watch

 The Red House Bistro here at Dallas Retirement Village continues to be a top spot to watch birds.  I took this photo of an Anna's Hummingbird while we were having breakfast there last Thursday morning, August 10th.  The handy work of David Fletcher in the flowerbeds on the patio provides a feasting location for the hummingbirds where they collect nectar from the flowers.  In addition to Anna's Hummingbirds, we also observed two migrating Rufous Hummingbirds. 

Why We Love Toledo

For the second day of our "Hiding-Out" from the heat at the coast, we took a morning trip to Toledo from our overnight spot in Newport. We simply love Toledo. We find ourselves returning again and again, specifically to the Port of Toledo with its Marina, Waterfront Park and Depot Slough Path. We are drawn of course to the birds, but it is also very pleasant to stroll along the docks in the Marina, through the Waterfront Park, and along the paved walkway of the Depot Slough Path. Here is our eBird Observation List.

 

Here is an informative link for the Port of Toledo

Spyglass Ridge Open Space

A few days ago, I realized that there was a brand new eBird Hotspot in Lincoln City, Spyglass Ridge Open Space. A trip to explore this park fit really well with our desire to escape the 100+degree heat forecasted in the Willamette Valley. After all, Lincoln City is only an hour from our home in Dallas, and the coastal forecast was for much cooler temperatures. We are spoiled because with our camper van it's so easy to take off for a couple of days without much effort.  

We had never been to Spyglass Ridge before, and we were not disappointed.  We love an adventure, and this place is well hidden and takes some effort to find. Hopefully you can download a map from the Q code below, because a map is really important in finding your way on these unmarked trails.

 

The beauty of the deep forest held us in awe. 

Using the Merlin Bird Identification app was helpful in identifying birds hidden in the high canopy. Here is our eBird Observation List. 

Thursday's Birdwatch

 The "News Flash" here in the birding world at Dallas Retirement Village is that the nesting box located at the Pavilion has baby Western Bluebirds that are being fed by their parents.  I had taken a photo of the eggs back on the 21st of July, but it wasn't until I was tipped off on Aug 2nd when resident Barbara Berrie and her caregiver, Angela Barker, reported that the adults were busy feeding their babies that I was aware the chicks had hatched.

 

Thursday's Bird Watch

 

It's a quiet time of year for birds, but if you look closely, you may catch some touching scenes because it is also the time of year for new young birds. This is a family of House Finches taken here at Dallas Retirement Village last Thursday the 27th of July.  Male House Finches are easy to identify with their bright red plumage. Females are more subtle, but distinct breast stripes always provide a clue.  Juveniles if seen all alone provide almost no clue to their identification. 

Silver Falls State Park

 Recent news articles had alerted me to new construction at Silver Falls State Park at what is to be called the North Gateway. We had a free day today, so decided to take off and discover what this is all about.  Just opening in July is the first phase, which is the North Cayon Trailhead and parking lot. This new trail connects to the North Canyon Trail as well as the new North Falls Viewpoint. 

North Falls Viewpoint

We had a great time exploring the trail to the North Falls Viewpoint, enjoying the lush vegetation of familiar ferns, fruit bearing shrubs, and towering trees. And, recalling all the experiences we have had over the years at Silver Falls State Park, beginning as teenage campers, through many years of hiking, biking and camping. And of course, the crowning event of our wedding in 1993. 

The future of the North Gateway looks to be an exciting addition to the park, with a new Visitors Center, and Campground.