Thursday's Bird Watch

This is an American Kestrel, the smallest member of the fast-flying Falcon Family. Lucky for us, it is by far the most common bird to be seen perched on the power lines along any of our roads in Polk County.  This photo was taken along Smithfield Rd.  Notice her recent catch of a rodent tangling from her right talon.
 

Toledo for The Day

Yesterday, determined to get out of the heat in Dallas for the day, we set our sights on Toledo. Our planned first stop to bird was on the Depot Slough Path at the waterfront in Toledo but arriving there was a good amount of fog and no amount of bird activity. So, our next choice was Paddle Park, located on down Yaquina Bay Rd.  The weather was better, and we were greeted with bird songs galore. We set up our chairs and started counting birds. You can see our eBird Checklist with photos here.

After enjoying lunch and the birds we decided to explore the birding opportunities along the Siletz River. Arriving at the town of Siletz we found their riverfront park, Hee Hee Illahe, a little too busy for our tastes so we traveled on to the next river park, Ojalla Park. 

This park is primarily used for river access, but we were here to check for birds.  In past visits we didn't happen to notice any birds, and worst there was no cell service. On this day we had lots of birds and two bars of cell service!  Again, we made an eBird Checklist. This park will now be a definite return location.

For those who have an interest in more minute information, I presume that "Ojalla" is a different spelling of "Olalla" which is the name of a nearby reservoir, a creek and a slough. According to my research, "Olalla" comes from the word "Olallie" a Chinook jargon word for berries.

 

Thursday's Bird Watch!

The background of the deep red tree foliage contributed to a striking photo of this Anna's Hummingbird.  It was taken from our 2nd floor balcony where I was able to lean against the doorway to hold the camera steady.  Its's been an exceptional spring season for Anna's Hummingbirds in The Lodge Central Courtyard this year with four successful nesting sites.  The flowers as well as the trees have been without question the best we have seen.  It's a great time of year to take a stroll through the courtyard, take a seat on a bench and enjoy the trees, flowers, and bird life.