I'm a Sucker for Sapsuckers

Maureen is away in Texas this weekend, which is unfortunate for me in every way but one: she left behind her big lens. Happy to take advantage of a rare opportunity I knew I wanted to spend a good deal of time outdoors, and shockingly, the weather actually cooperated with after 3 straight weeks(!) of rain. So directly after work on Friday I set out, first to Woodmansee Park (interrupting countless rounds of frisbee golf every step of the way), and then to Minto-Brown.

Bushtit

Song Sparrow

American Robin. Cold-blooded killa

Friday's highlight wasn't a bird, but actually a copulating pair of… I'll say robber flies? As they whizzed by me I couldn't quite tell what was happening, so I followed until they landed and I could sidle up and play voyeur. As the male gripped the branch above above him, he inseminated the female below while she was busy feasting on her nuptial gift. 

I returned to Minto-Brown again in the morning, when I wasn't racing the sun. But I did soon decide to see how many species I could rack up before I needed food or water (neither of which I'd thought to bring). There's a certain trail that I recently visited, sans camera, when I happened upon a very cooperative Red-breasted Sapsucker (x Red-naped Sapsucker hybrid? See comment below). I'd cursed myself for not being better prepared, and crossed my fingers that I might luck into another close encounter. 

I was NOT disappointed. It turned out that this particular stand of trees is frequented by two sapsuckers, and their handiwork was visible all around. I could have watched them all day. 

Even though we've lived hear for (just about) two years, and Minto-Brown is one of the premier parks in the Salem area, there are miles of trails we've never explored. You think you're going to take one path to the end, and then it splits. You choose a path and it splits again. Now I'd decided to finally do some serious exploring, and the park rejected me. Time and again I'd have to backtrack after finding trails flooded out. 

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Hopefully not the last Varied Thrush of the season

Brush Rabbit

Song Sparrow

I did still manage to see more of the park than ever before, and wherever I explored there was one constant: singing Bewick's Wrens. They were everywhere. And very much out in the open. The three photos below are of three different individual birds - just a small sample of the day's tally.

Bewick's Wren

Nemeses Conquered at Finley NWR

Although we haven’t been in the Pacific Northwest very long, we somehow had already acquired some nemesis birds. One in particular isn’t necessarily a difficult bird to get, but it eluded us a number of times. We would see reports of a Black Phoebe in an area we had just birded, or we’d go to that area after a report with no results. What was particularly irksome for Nick was that he *swore* he saw one once at Ankeny NWR, but it quickly disappeared before I got a glimpse of it, never to be seen again.

Red-Breasted Sapsucker

Golden-Crowned Kinglet (by Nicholas)

Male Dark-Eyed Junco (by Nicholas)

Female Dark-Eyed Junco

Ankeny NWR has also hosted a regular Rough-Legged Hawk that we couldn’t quite seem to get. We tried a couple of times to look for it with no luck. And another time we super scrutinized a distant raptor sitting in the grass for about 15 minutes hoping that it was a RLHA, but it turned out to be a Northern Harrier. Wah wah. So when a recent report for Finley NWR listed these two nemeses, we knew we had to give it a chance to get the most bang for our buck, so to speak. 

Brown-Creeper - Not a nemesis bird, but a nemesis photography subject. Nailed it!

Male Spotted Towhee

False Turkey Tail fungus (by Nicholas)

We had our doubts about how the day would turn out when we drove through a thick blanket of fog that stretched from just south of our apartment for about 35+ miles down all the way down to Finley. We eased into our day with a few ducks here and there in some of the ponds created by the winter rains. 

Fox Sparrow

Golden-Crowned Sparrow

Purple Finch… But not purple!

What perked us up was a group of 11 California Quail. Usually when we see any quail, they run for cover and vanish into the brush as soon as we see them. But this group seemed to feel they were at a comfortable distance, and they pecked for food as we watched them for a while munching and then running back and forth from one side of the road to the other. 

A bevy of California Quail

These round little footballs are super adorable and a joy to watch. They look like balloons that could pop at any moment. And I love how they know how to quickly run across the street in contrast to their somewhat leisurely pace along the edge of the brush/grass. I giggled each time one of them would inch up to the edge of the road, assess the safety of their surroundings, and then quickly scoot across, lengthening their bodies.

We pushed on and drove to the nature center as we were on a mission to find those nemeses. The first attempt was in a pond just behind the main building. There we sought and succeeded in finding a new lifer: the Black Phoebe! Huzzah! I took one pass when we first got there, not sure if this was the right pond as there was another across the street. After we took some time to snap some photos of the well-behaved birds at the feeder, we went back over to the pond, and immediately found success as the Black Phoebe flew passed us and continued to flycatch amongst the reeds.

Black Phoebe

Lovely pair of Spotted Towhees by the feeder (by Nicholas)

Next we headed to the long stretch of road with large open fields sprinkled with ponds of ducks. We were first greeted with only our second sighting of a Golden Eagle. He was one amongst half a dozen Bald Eagles we had already seen that day. We watched him perched for a few minutes until he unsuccessfully hunted for a goose. And then, as if a heavenly door opened up in the sky, a Rough-Legged Hawk swooped across the sky. There was no mistaking this one with its black belly and black “wrists.” It landed in the treetops and we were still jumping for joy when a second one soared right above us. AAAA-mazing! 

Digiscoped photo of a Rough-Legged Hawk

Immature Bald Eagle

This dreary day turned out to be quite rewarding, indeed. And just when we thought it couldn’t be any better, we were delighted by some bonus sightings. A group of Tundra Swans were feeding super close to the road that allowed for nice close shots. But the cherry on top of this awesome day was something I didn’t even know existed – a Storm Wigeon. What’s that you say?!? Check out Seagull Steve’s blog post about them. This is a rare form of an American Wigeon that has that butter color on most of its face, not just on the top of its head. 

Tundra Swan

I shouted, “What’s wrong with that Wigeon?” And Nick knew just what it was after reading Seagull Steve’s post. It was really cool to see it side by side with a regular American Wigeon. I would have never expected to see one, especially since I didn’t know of its existence. Haha. But what a treat it was after conquering two nemeses and having great views of other great birds.

Storm Wigeon = An extra buttery American Wigeon

Compare a normal American Wigeon to a Storm Wigeon

Ebony and Ivory, live together in perfect harmony...

Fall at Finley NWR

Ever since we announced our move to Oregon, it seemed like everyone we told who was even slightly familiar with the state told us, “Ohhh, it rains a lot!” We don’t mind the rain much, as we faced plenty of rain before in Florida, albeit a much different type of rain. We were told that it was the dreariness that might get us. However, I can’t say we faced much typical “Oregon weather” until just recently in December. The end of spring was an absolute delight, summer was warm but with no humidity (a foreign thing to me), and fall was nice and crisp, and even sometimes downright freezing. Winter has given us a bit of that typical rain and dreariness – including a full day of rain during the Salem Christmas Bird Count. Yikes. 

Northern Harrier over the Marsh

But who wants to think about that right now? I want to think about those lovely, sunny and crisp fall days, particularly at Finley National Wildlife Refuge. You may recall that Finley NWR was where we had our first encounters with my beloved Acorn Woodpecker. Knowing that there is a resident family there makes me very happy, and the sight of these fastidious woodpeckers always tickles me.

We were able to visit Finley before most of the trails closed for the winter for the birds’ protection. Geese and ducks were starting to gather in the lake, but not yet in big numbers during the peak of winter. Nonetheless, we were treated by a few American White Pelicans that swam by – bold splashes of white in a sea of greens, grays, and browns. 

American White Pelicans

The colors of fall Lungwort lichen

Can you spot the moth?

The feeders at the visitor center were especially busy. Groups of Golden-Crowned Sparrows and Juncos were scattered about. A nice Fox Sparrow made a very brief appearance. It’s always a treat to see these very sleek and handsome sparrows. Everyone was coming out to enjoy some solid sunshine, which would seen be a rarity for the upcoming winter season. 

Golden-Crowned Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Western Scrub-Jay 

Although most of Cabell Marsh Trail was closed, the short path to the observation deck was open and full of fun birds. Waterfowl are great, but it was the little guys that were stealing the show that day. Golden-Crowned Kinglets were chirping all over the place and giving great close looks. A Brown Creeper stayed still long enough for me to capture a shot of him in a somewhat still position. A darling little Marsh Wren jumped up and out from the reeds to show off a bit. These are one of my favorite wrens – such tough guys in small bodies. If you ever use playback to call one out, he will fuss at you for quite a while, making you feel like you’re being berated.

Golden-Crowned Kinglet 

Brown Creeper

Marsh Wren

There were still fall apples on the trees, which made for a lovely setting for a Spotted Towhee. And I couldn’t have asked for a more cooperative and gorgeous Varied Thrush. These birds are unreal – such gorgeous hues of burnt orange and slatey grayish-blue. There was a pair of them munching on the apples (or maybe the bugs and grubs in the apples). 

Spotted Towhee

Varied Thrush

Even the undertail of the Varied Thrush is lovely.

We’re always thrilled to see these relatively new birds, but the surprise of the day was a ninja-like Wrentit. We spotted him and watched him for about 30 seconds before he flew off never to be seen again. We had only seen one once just barely in a little wooded area just off the coast, and we were surprised to see one this far inland, but I guess it’s not out of the question. In any case, it was fun to catch even a fleeting glance at this Kabuki mask-faced little bird. He was a lovely way to end our last fall trip to Finley. 

Skulky Wrentit