More Than Just Birds

 Every once in a while I stop to ponder that possibly everyone is not as interested in birds as I am.  I actually am interested in and take photos of other forms of nature.  Featured in this blog are some that I have taken in the last couple of months.

This nice buck with antlers  was one of seven Black-tailed Deer we saw this morning while birding at Fairview Wetlands in Salem.

While birding at Huddleston Pond in Willamina this past week I saw this turtle.  I was glad to notice it was not an invasive Red-eared Slider, and thought at first it was a native Western Pond Turtle, but looking at it closer after loading the photo into my laptop, I realized it is a native Western Painted Turtle.  

An Eastern Gray Squirrel was a busy guy the day we watched him at Nesmith County Park in Rickreall. A non-native that is so wide spread here in the Willamette Valley, that  is probably looked at by most people as a native.

This sunflower photo was taken back in August in the community garden here in the Dallas Retirement Village. Although this sunflower is beautiful, I was actually after the bee in the center.  This is the smallest critter I am featuring today.

Ahead of the Rain

Yesterday we took advantage of the last day of sunshine ahead of a forecast of 3 days of rain to get in some birding.  We chose Huddleston Pond in the nearby town of Willamina. A gravel path circles this former log pond and makes it an easy place to bird. The city has supplied picnic tables, benches and restrooms which are now temporarily closed because of Covid-19. Birds were a little scarce, but blue skies, moderate temperature and the beginning of fall colors made for a perfect morning.   

An adult Green Heron escaped across a mirrored surface, and  a juvenile Green Heron poked its head up to see what was going on.

You can see our complete observation list and photos by clicking here.

 

New Day - Old Haunts

 Forest fires ranging down the west slope of the Oregon Cascades have clogged the Willamette Valley and virtually the entire state for the last two weeks with smoke, starting on Monday the 7th.  For most of the time I tried to stay inside to avoid the health threatening smoke.  On this Friday, the 18th, the rains mercifully arrived and the air began to clear.  Saturday we ventured out on a short walk here in Dallas City Park just a couple of blocks away.  Sunday we felt brave enough to drive to Salem and bird at an old favorite, Fairview Wetlands.  We began birding at this location 22 years ago when we would walk from our home on Reed Court.  Now days the Fairview Drive area is completely filled in with industry, and many workers walk the trails on their breaks.  For that reason we make it a practice to only bird there on the weekends. We were excited to see what changes the recent smoke and rain would bring to the bird population. The rain was insufficient to bring any water to the dried out wetlands, but we saw lots of evidence that the clean air had put the birds on the feed.  

If you look close at the top photo of the juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, (you can click of the photo to enlarge) you can see it is clutching its prey in its right claw, presumable a rodent. In the lower photos you will see a Steller's Jay and a California Scrub-Jay harvesting acorns. We had a great morning birding at Fairview Wetlands once again, busy with birds and filled with memories. You can see our observation list and more photos here.  

Birding Closer to Home

First the Pandemic has forced us to restrict our travels and birding closer to home, that is to say most parks and rest areas are closed, so no overnight travels, only day-trips.  Now the forest fires have forced us to stay inside our apartment.  I stayed completely inside our building for three days.  Then yesterday when the smoke cleared a little, I ventured out for some birding just next to our garage.  Jeanette made it out to pick up some new glasses, and in the process talked with our next-door neighbor Jim, and found out that he has a lot of hummingbird activity off his balcony.  We were totally unaware, and we are only separated by a wall.  When we look out our windows we can not even see his balcony porch.  This morning when we took a short bird walk, we looked up from the central courtyard and low and behold there we hummingbirds at Jim's feeders. I took some photos and then when we went upstairs to our apartment. I went out on our balcony and leaned over the railing and discovered I could see Jim's feeders and the hummingbirds! I took some more photos, and now marvel that I guess I don't even need to travel at all to bird, I can just go out on our balcony.  There is no need to drive anyplace to bird, I don't even need to walk out the front door, birds are as close as our balcony.

 male Anna's Hummingbird

 female Anna's Hummingbird

Ritner Creek County Park

This morning Jeanette and I went to explore and bird at Ritner Creek Park.  It's now been a week since we had Buster put down, and we are still seeking to find the balance in a group of 2 in place of 3. In our minds we now have a lot more freedom in time and place, but in our hearts this is a loss of companionship on all our adventures. Today, though it seemed a bit odd,  it was time to seek out an adventure on our own.  Ritner Creek Park has been a place I have wanted to visit for many years, possibly clear back to when I was a fisherman. It's the only one of the ten Polk County Parks that I had not been to, and possibly the most remote.  Located at 750 feet elevation down a gravel road off of Kings Valley Road, it's a place you would not just to happen to pass by.  For amenities, there is pit toilet, and gravel paths that lead across a bridge to a half dozen picnic tables with fire pits. Moss covered Bigleaf Maple trees, and giant tall Douglas Fir trees hide this park and provide abundant shade for the gentle flowing Ritner Creek on it's was to join the Luckiamute River.  We arrived before 7:00AM to a silent park, save for the bubbling creek.  We first noticed a Steller's Jay, and then a couple of Robins, and then the excited cry of a Piliated Woodpecker, put still not enough birds to live up to our expectations. As we started to drive away on the gravel road the morning sun finally had an effect on the bird population and we overwhelmed with bird identification challenges.  Click on our bird list here.  We will be back! 

So Much More Than Just Birds

We got a call from our friend Glenn last night to ask if we would be going birding. Well duh? We decided to meet at Adair Pond this Morning. We all three love to go birding together, which we have done over the years in Oregon, Arizona, and California, but beyond that we enjoy lots of conversation, and all forms of wildlife we come across. Today was a perfect mix of all those things we so much enjoy.

Glenn and Jeanette at Adair Pond

Western Pond Turtle

Great EgretUnidentified Butterfly

 

Vaux's Swift

Last night my sister Susan invited us over to their house to watch the Vaux's Swifts fly into their chimney.  We went over with camera and chairs to watch the spectacle which began about 8:30 at sundown.  To the average non-birder it could be viewed as just another oddity of  bird behavior, but to some one obsessed with birds as I am, it was a moment to cherish, examine, document, and research. My sister and her husband have lived in their house for over two decades, but this is the first year they noticed the Swifts.  They were first puzzled by loud peeping noises, which they discovered where coming from their chimney, and eventually decided where coming from Vaux's Swifts nesting. Last night Jeanette and Susan concentrated on getting an exact count as the birds entered the chimney (116), while I clicked away with my camera trying to get a photo.  We have since learned a number of interesting things about these amazing birds that travel from their wintering grounds as far as South America.  They are always in flight, even as they migrate thousands of miles, they are able to sleep as they cruise at high altitudes on their journeys both south and north. They make their nest in a variety of places, chimneys are one of them.  But, the spectacle we witness this time of year is their communal gathering in preparation for their journey south in a month or so. All these are facts on the grand scale, but the local significance of our observations last night of these 116 Swifts is the large number here in Dallas and Polk County.  Prior to our count the largest number reported in all of Polk County to e-Bird, a world-wide data-base, was 77 in August of 2012 in Independence. So now we have a new high count for Polk County and a new location to watch for the coming and goings of the Vaux's Swift.