Huddleston Pond

Gray skies are not allowing the solar panels to keep the batteries fully charged in our Solis Pocket van. I like to run the furnace in the van at night to keep the water system from freezing, hence the need for battery power to run the furnace. This morning over breakfast with our friend LaVerda Gallager we were discussing taking the van for a drive to get the batteries charged. We settled on a drive to Willamina and some birding at Huddleston Pond. Killing two birds with one stone, so to speak. LaVerda was interested in going for the birdwatching. Jeanette took this picture of us while LaVerda is trying to get a photo of a busy flock of 30 or so Pine Siskins in a tree along the trail that circles Huddleston Pond. Pine Siskins have just arrived in the last couple of weeks from the cold North, and it's a good year for them. We are happy to see them in good numbers after last year being a low number year. You can see our bird list and photos here.     
 

Thursday's Bird Watch!

Many of us enjoy being able to watch the Turkeys roam our lawns and flower beds here at Dallas Retirement Village. Several months ago, Pastor Jon suggested that for my "Bird Watch!" article this Thanksgiving, I post a photo of a Turkey. I didn't take him seriously, because, as most of you
 know, he frequently jokes. But this past Sunday night, in the middle of the night, by brain woke me up and I started to worry about finding a Turkey photo.  It took a lot of searching on my computer and in my saved paper files, but eventually I found this photo of this strutting male Turkey taken here in Dallas Retirement Village in November of 2020. It was used in our newsletter for Thanksgiving Week.  At that time the newsletter was called the "DRV Daily Chronicle". Thanks, Jon, for the suggestion.       

Fishermens Bend

A report of an Osprey sighting at Fishermens Bend on the North Santiam River got us out of the apartment yesterday morning to go in search.  It was an unusual sighting for this time of year in that Ospreys general leave in the fall for warmer locations like Mexico for the winter.

Arriving at the park was a bit of a shock combined with a flood of memories.  We had not been back to the park since the devastating fires of a few years ago that swept through the Santiam Canyon. It was hard to recognize places we parked, or camped, or hiked.  

We first visited this park to bird and camp in May of 2016.  I didn't post a blog, but here is our eBird list. Today's birding was quite different. Gone were all the trees and shrubs that provided such wonderful habitat for birds. But still we found some birds and that filled our day with some joy.  A large female American Kestel perched busy preening was the first bird we spotted almost instantly as we drove in. A flight of Mallard duck surprised us as we explored further into the park. A Northern Flicker rushed to move out of sight. A Song Sparrow sang out from a hidden spot. Dark-eyed Juncos exploded from some shrubs in a series of appearing and disappearing acts. Here is our eBird list.

We did not find an Osprey, but we did see an empty probable nest site. Despite the gloomy weather and the cold and rain we left with an eagerness to return as the habitat improves.

Thursday's Bird Watch!

This is a Black Phoebe, a member of the Flycatcher Family.  They are easy to identify because they are almost entirely black except for the strikingly white underside. They love to hang around streams and ponds and are fun to watch as they fly out from a perch to catch an insect, and then return back to their perch, and then repeat over and over again. In the last two decades they have become a more common bird to be seen here in the Willamette Valley.  I took this photo last week in the nearby Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge at Cottonwood Pond.  In fact, I'm willing to go out on a limb here and guarantee that if you were to drive out to Baskett Slough and take Coville Rd. to Cottonwood Pond, you would find this Black Phoebe feeding along the shoreline next to the road. - Jim Scott  

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?