Thursday's Bird Watch!

BLUEBIRD UPDATE - - Last week I showed a photo and wrote about watching our Western Bluebirds at a nesting box by the Pavilion here at Dallas Retirement Village. This week the surprise is that they have moved! It now appears that they have chosen the nesting box in the garden area. This photo was taken on Saturday March 22nd. They seem to be comfortable spending more time closer together, so hopefully this new location will work out. The bench near the garden entrance is a good place to sit and watch them.
 

Birding at Fort Yamhill

This morning Jeanette and I went birding at Fort Yamhill State Heritage Area, another of our favorite places to bird. It is also steeped in the history of the contact and interaction of the native populations, the invading settlers, and the United State Army. It's always thought provoking to visit this park, particularly this section of the historical trade route used by the coastal and valley natives for thousands of years. In fact, according to David Lewis, author of "Tribal Histories of the Willamette Vallet", recent archeological evidence supports human habitation at 10,000 years. Let that settle in your mind. So, as we walk this ancient path, boarded with ferns and trees, seeking out birds by song and sight, it is for us a sacred moment. 
 

First Osprey!

Jeanette and I have been tracking Osprey arrivals in Polk County for the past ten years. Amazingly they are quite predictable in their arrival date from their winter grounds as far away as South America. I checked the last three years for two of the major sites we check in West Salem, and their arrival dates vary from March 19th to the 22nd.

This morning, we went out to check on a group of nests in the West Salem area.  The Murlark Ave. nest site was empty, as was the Patterson St. nest site, and the Bartel Dr. nest site. When we got to Wallace Marine Park, we struck gold. Here at the ball field nest site, we found a female Osprey on the nest crying her eyes out. We took a few minutes to photograph and add the information in to eBird.org, and then we noticed a 2nd Osprey in flight.  It made a couple of loops around the ball field area and then landed in the nest. The male Osprey! 
 

On our way out of West Salem, we made a stop at the Salem Audubon Nature Reserve to check out their nest site.  Nothing on the nest, but across the street in a conifer tree we spotted what I think was a male Osprey. On the way home we checked a couple of nest sites in Independence, and a site in Dallas.  All were empty. 

We are so excited for our first Ospreys of the season and look forward to keeping track of their development in the upcoming months before they leave us again in September for their winter hangouts.  

Thursday's Bird Watch!

A pair of Western Bluebirds here at Dallas Retirment Village are getting serious about nesting once again.  This nesting box is located at the Pavilion.  They have used this box for several years, and it easy to sit in the comfort of the Pavilion and look out to the north and watch them settling in.  I took this photo on March 13th, and they were very busy playing "catch me if you can."  The drab-colored female is the lower one, and the puffed-up brighter bird above is the male.  In the days ahead they we be bringing in grass to build a nest.  Then she will set on the eggs, and after the chicks have hatched, the busy time begins when they feed the babies.  Be sure and visit the Pavilion in the days and weeks ahead to watch the progression. 
 

Thursday's Bird Watch!

 We have more excitement in the hummingbird world here at Dallas Retirement Village!  This is a male Rufous Hummingbird, photographed by Lodge resident LaVerda Gallager at her third-floor balcony juice feeder on March 6th. This is only the second Rufous Hummingbird to be reported in Polk County this year! In general, Rufous Hummingbirds migrate through the Willamette Valley in the Spring on their way North for nesting, and then again on their way South for the Winter.  Although smaller than our resident Anna's Hummingbirds, thay are fierce competitors, and cause quite a commontion while they are passing through. 

Thursday's Birdwatch!

A NEW NEST!  During lunch at the Red House Bistro with our downstairs neighbors, Roger and Sandy Coburn, they mentioned to us that they had hummingbirds coming and going into their dryer vent.  They wondered if they were nesting in the the dryer vent.  After lunch, Jeanette and I went to investigate.  We concluded that the hummingbirds were probably not nesting in the vent but instead gathering lint to construct a nest in a more suitable location.  We turned our attention to the dogwood trees in the courtyard and almost by accident found the nest with the female in it.  I have now set up a scope in my den where I can observe it, and today as I write this, Friday February 28th, the female is busy working on the nest.