I Used to Hate Birds

From Sauvie Island...

A nice-looking hawk...


Some Sandhill Cranes pretty far away... and below a few more flying by:


At Seaquest State Park in Washington:

A chatty Winter Wren, I believe..

Some Common Mergansers...

A Belted Kingfisher..

And a whole bunch of bugs!!!

I woke up early yesterday to head to the beach before sunrise.. It was an absolutely beautiful day on the coast and was actually warm enough to take off some layers!

My first stop was at the D River Recreation Site in Lincoln City..



Someone on the top floor of this hotel was throwing food to the gulls and they were going nuts...

Next stop, Taft Waterfront Park.


There were two Brown Pelicans on the beach... One was not looking so good...


Across the bay on Salishman Spit were at least a hundred Harbor Seals!  Jake did not even seem to notice them... This was a relief after the Sea Lions last weekend.




Behind us someone's dog startled the non-injured pelican and he took off over the waves into the Pacific.


Lucky for me, the magical squeaky tennis ball keeps Jake from chasing off birds.


A little dock area gave a nice view of Siletz Bay meeting the Pacific Ocean..  Note the seals to the left and the pelican to the right..


What a beautiful little park!

Next stop, Boiler Bay State Scenic…

I visit Ridgefield way too much!  It's an easy drive because I live two blocks from I-5, plus I can bring my dog, and if I'm feeling lazy I don't even have to get out of the car.. haha.

Same old same old...

I finally found some Cinnamon Teals..

A perfect Double-crested Cormorant.

This pair of Bald Eagles scared the crap out of me screaming from over the bank of the pond.  Seriously it sounded like a baby being killed. They settled in a tree across the field where one of them proceeded to eat something I couldn't identify (a frog maybe?).

I love the look on the face of the eagle to the left..

A pair of Scaups.

A Shoveler?

This hawk was on guard apparently...

Yesterday morning I got up early to head to Fort Stevens State Park in Warrenton, OR.  I was psyched that the weather was cooperative and the rain held off till early afternoon.

I stopped in Astoria first to take Jake for a walk along the river..


Looks like some Scaups (Lesser or Greater?!), females and a male.  Also, some female Buffleheads, and a pair of Mallards.

A Belted Kingfisher flew from post to post.



Of course I had to go see the sea lions.. I thought Jake would like to see them too.  He seemed kind of interested in what was making the crazy sounds so we walked up the pier.  He caught sight of one and still only seemed a little excited.  Then he smelled them.  Suddenly he was terrified and started pacing frantically while I tried to take some pictures.  Then he just started barking like crazy so we left.  No more sea lion visits for Jake.  This is the same dog who has no problem trying to herd a half dozen horses.  I suppose we've all got our fears.


After traumatizing Jake…

I headed down to the Ankeny NWR and Baskett Slough NWR this morning... Unlike my last visit to the area I barely saw any birds of prey, but I did see a nice variety of ducks and geese..

In Pintail Pond were a male and a female Bufflehead..

Also quite a few American Coots.



Off to the right of the pond were some Green-winged Teals and American Wigeons...

In another area of Ankeny were three Great Egrets:

A bunch of sparrows flew about the berry bushes..
Looks like two Golden-crowned Sparrows and one White-crowned Sparrow?

At the next pond overlook were lots more geese and ducks...
Canada Geese, Tundra Swans, Northern Pintails...

Quite a few Ring-necked Ducks.

Canada Geese..

A Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker.

Back in the pond were a few Hooded Mergansers and Mallards...

Next stop was Baskett Slough NWR where it had started to drizzle..
The water was pretty far from the viewpoint and the grey, rainy day did not help my pictures...

It looked like there were lots of neat little shorebirds mixed in …