Northern Shrike from Febuary

A new life bird for me.
Went out to Jackson Bottom to see if I could find the Northern Shrike that was reported.
I had seen photos and thought it was the size of a sparrow. When I saw it fly into a tree I was surprised. It is actually larger. More like the size of a jay. It was pretty
exciting. Got a couple good shots.

Little Stint Medford Oregon

Took a trip around Oregon. We were going to go to California but had to cancel that trip. As it turned out I was not in good shape and would have been limited. Les also wasn't well. We decided to take a short trip around Oregon.  We spent some great time at the coast for 3 days.

We went down to Grants Pass and saw the grand kids. Planned a day to go into Medford to "visit"
"In N Out". That was great.  We took the back road back to GP. All the years we lived in GP I wanted to take the old Kirkland rd to try and get a photo of Table Rock. We were driving along and too many wires to get a good shot. I noticed a couple people with a scope. Of course I made Les stop. It had to be birders. I didn't know it at the time but it was Kirkland Ponds. I had to go between barb wire to get through. Les decided to stay in the car and watch from a distance. It was a warm day.

I had the privilege of meeting Edith and Jim. They were two old time birders with tons of knowledge. I enjoyed talking with them, they taught me so much. They were looking for a "Little Stint" that had been reported there. I had never seen one and didn't realize what a find it was till they educated me. (l found out later some from Portland came down to see it)  The bird was located and it was so exciting to see their joy. Neither had a camera so I took some photos. My camera did ok but the bird was just too far away. I got a couple photos I could share with them.

As we were leaving Edith (82 yrs)  started to stumble. She scared me. She seemed very weak. Jim is up in age too. Once Les saw there was a problem he helped get her through the fence and over to Jim's truck. She went down to her knees and Les got her into the truck. I wanted to call an ambulance but she wouldn't have it. We got her to drink water and she just wanted to go home. Later I emailed her some photos. (Others had better photos than mine but she wanted some from when they saw the bird) She replied with thanks and explained she had been busy on a garage sale in the morning and Jim had called her with news of the stint and wanted to know if she wanted to go.  She hadn't eaten lunch and not much to drink. I think she was in the first stages of heat stroke. It's good she got in the truck when she did.  She said she had never done that before. She usually has her bag with water and food but left in a hurry. She said not a mistake she'd make again.

Here are the bad photos I got.

    

I did get a shot of  Table Rock Later

Virginia Rail photo finally

I have been on many walks with groups where I've heard Virginia Rails.
I was finally able to see one.
I sure thought they were bigger than they are.  I think I need to read the description on the birds a little closer.  I was looking through the reeds of grass expecting to see a large bird, maybe the size of
a duck and here comes a little bird. I almost didn't see it. It was one of those birds you want a photo of yet they are hard to pin down.

Very happy for the shot I got. Not the best but good enough for me.

New Life Bird

Finally got a new Life Bird. It's been a while since I've had a new one.
We lost Linda yesterday and I needed to get out. Went to a new park in Hillsboro
with a small birding group.  We found a Sharp-shinned Hawk. He was sitting with his back to us.
I wish he would have turned around but some times they don't cooperate with you but thrilled just the same.



Sharp-shinned Hawk

 I had to go back to Jackson Bottom to return some binoculars. I had heard about some Garter Snakes that were residing there. Here's one of the guys. They are so fascinating to watch. As long as I know what kind of snake it is they don't scare me.

Newest post 2016

Getting a new year started. I originally started this for my birds life list. I have been sidetracked by life. It happens that way. I am enjoying my birding because I'm not out trying to find new life birds. I'm just enjoying being out in the fresh air.  I am trying to fill in photos of some birds on my existing life list that I am missing. Some are not the best photos but I will get better shots.

1. Pacific Wren
     I have seen the Pacific Wren many times but it is such a fast moving bird it's hard to get a good photo. I was able to snap a couple last week that were usable.

 

2. Eurasian Wigeon 

 This is a bird I had a hard time hunting down.  We have had one male at Amberglen Park and Dawson Creek. Was able to get some pretty good shots.

Male 

                                                                            Female

3. Chestnut-backed Chickadee

I have had a few shots but horrible ones. I was able to get some shots at the feeders at Jackson Bottom. They seem to be a little tamer there.

4.  Lincoln's Sparrow

Recently got a couple shots.

5. White-throated Sparrow

 6. Mew Gull

7. Steller's Jay

These are some of my missing photos. 

Back Outside

It was good to get back outside after being sick.
We have had a lot of rain and most of my usual birding areas have been flooded.
It's funny, a couple months ago there wasn't enough water at Jackson Bottom for the ducks,
now it's flooded and even the road to the parking lot was flooded.

Spent time at home and was able to get a couple cool birds right from my chair.

Never had a White-throated Sparrow in my yard. It was fun to have it visit on a day
I couldn't get out.

I also have a large Flicker that comes every day. Daphne knows it as the Big Bird. She likes to watch
him when he comes. She also likes what she calls the Junco Sparrows. They are here all the time.

Still have the question on my Slate colored Junco. I've been told two different things. I call it a slate colored because that's what I think it is. You be the judge.

A few days ago I was able to see a duck I was hunting since last year. It was counted in the CBC in Dec and was in a neighborhood pond by Walker rd Fred Meyer.  It's considered an exotic escapee. Mandarin Duck. They are native I guess to China but people here buy them and then they escape and mix with other ducks. I have been driving by this pond at least once a week or so hoping to see it. Saw it the other day hanging out with the Wood Ducks and it was way down on the creek side so I didn't get the best picture but good enough. I sat and watched him for a while. Beautiful bird.

I don't take birding to seriously I like to have fun and enjoy watching how the birds act and relate to each other and their surroundings.

     Had a lot of fun this week.

Trip to Grants Pass

Boy I didn't realize how bad it had been being stuck in the house for so long. I was able to go down to see the grand-kids in Grants Pass. There was no birding planed because Les, Sabrina and Daphne were with me this time. But I still got some birding in on the porch. My friend Cheryl lives in Merlin which is out in the woods. Her yard has many birds.

I was able to see:

Red-breasted Sapsucker
   (not the best picture)

Golden-crowned Kinglet
   (have never gotten a photo till today)
Took about a half an hour of patients.

          

Hairy Woodpecker
  I've seen them but never got a photo till now.

It turned out to be a good time for the short time we were there..

Got to see the Grandchildren. My grandson Reese seems to be interested in birding. My friend Cheryl and her husband Ron, gave him a small pair of binoculars. He enjoyed watching the birds in her yard. I gave him my Sibleys book and he was pretty excited. A birder in the makings.